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FC Barcelona seems to have legitimate interest in Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich. The problem for the Catalans is that Bayern Munich does not seem all that eager to let the Germany international leave. Either way, this story continues to take turns.

In terms of departures, Werder had to say goodbye to regular players Chiara Hahn, who moved to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, and Nina Lührßen. Lührßen left the club for Eintracht Frankfurt after twelve years and 138 competitive matches.

SV Werder Bremen, who face VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga opener at the beginning of September, began their summer preparations a fortnight ago. Since then, the team have already played two friendlies where they have already shown some strong early form. A 12-0 win against Union’s recent play-off opponents SV Henstedt-Ulzburg was followed by a 3-0 victory against second-division side Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend.

Blame can be pointed any which way, but there’s no denying how much under the limelight the squad has been through this year’s struggles — including from their own bosses.

In the age of media and digitalisation, even a supposedly simple sport like football is becoming increasingly complicated. Data and statistics are playing an ever greater role, nutrition and sports science are finding their way into the dressing room and even supposedly small mistakes are being punished faster and harder, especially on the pitch. It takes more arms, eyes and brains to manage this mountain of information and tasks than one head coach alone can have. For this reason, Bo Svensson does not work alone, but relies on the support of his colleagues.

Thorup’s side continued their pre-season preparations against the 2015/16 Premier League winners. His starting XI included goalkeeper Nediljko Labrović and Kristijan Jakić, while Dimitrios Giannoulis started down the left.

It’s fair to say that the transfer succeeded, with Kimmich becoming one of Bayern’s most important players as a No. 6 in midfield. But perhaps Bayern have been utilizing Kimmich wrong. Reschke, speaking to Kerry Hau (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), certainly thinks so. “I personally think Jo is best utilized as a No. 8 or in a double pivot as the more attacking part that directs the play, because that’s an outstanding quality of his. I see Jo a bit more forward. But of course that’s also Leon Goretzka’s preferred role.”

In the penultimate friendly of pre-season, goalkeeper Noah Atubolu was unavailable after undergoing an operation on his appendix on Friday. Nicolas Höfler, Maximilian Philipp, Lukas Kübler, Eren Dinkci (all knocks) and Kenneth Schmidt (ill) all also missed out.

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Union, meanwhile, have won two of their three friendlies; 4-0 against BSG Chemie Leipzig and 3-2 against Dynamo Kyiv. Last Saturday, they drew 4-4 with Rangers at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

The opponents

OL only secured their 6th place in the French Ligue 1 on the final matchday of the 2023/24 season, thus securing qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The seven-time champions won all their titles between 2002 and 2008, setting a league record. Lyon’s greatest international successes include reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963/64 and the Champions League in 2009/10 and 2019/20. In 2007 they became the first club to win both the French men’s and women’s championships in the same year.

The top scorer in the last two seasons was 33-year-old centre-forward Alexandre Lacazette, who scored 46 goals and contributed eleven assists in 64 games. Lacazette is currently captaining the French team at the Olympic Games in Paris.