Bayern Munich’s summer will look a lot different this year…
Bayern Munich supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is ecstatic to see the old format of the Club World Cup replaced with the new style tournament.
“The old format had become a bit boring. You went there as a [UEFA] Champions League winner, and you knew that under normal circumstances you’d have one more trophy on board on the return flight. That’s going to change radically now. The Club World Cup is a really difficult tournament with 32 teams. And the quality of the pitch—with twelve top European teams alone—will be challenging,” Rummenigge told Sport1’s Stefan Kumberger (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “It’s a miracle what happened at FIFA. They abandoned a competition called the Confederations Cup in favor of a club competition.
“That’s never happened before – neither at UEFA nor at FIFA. We have to thank FIFA President Gianni Infantino for being willing to do that. I’m also sure this format is interesting. It will be a very interesting tournament for all of us.”
Rummenigge thinks it will be extremely important for his squad to be motivated for the competition, despite it coming after a long and arduous campaign.
“I think it’s important to fly there motivated to win this tournament. If there’s such a tournament, and especially the first one in the USA, where the World Cup will also be held in 2026, it’s an honor to participate. Secondly, I think you have to be motivated to go as far as possible. And ideally, you’ll then be able to lift this beautiful trophy,” Rummenigge said. “I simply believe that when you’re playing in a tournament, you have to approach it seriously and try to win. Whether you succeed at the end of the day is another question. After all, there are great teams competing – not just from Europe, but also from South and North America. They may have a home advantage, but as FC Bayern, you have to try.”
