Rarely will a meaningless July friendly in Europe drum up this much interest. But as this fall will be blooming with Pep Guardiola news, may as well start the Pep party early.
On July 24, Bayern Munich will host Barcelona at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria. That will happen about three weeks into Guardiola’s term as manager at Bayern. The two clubs announced the friendly this morning.
Guardiola, of course, is the highly successful former manager at Barcelona, where he won three La Liga crowns and two UEFA Champions League titles, among a raft of other trophies and honors during his time at the Camp Nou.
He took a year sabbatical at the end of Spain’s 2011–12 season (living in New York through the fall and winter) but last month was appointed to replace Jupp Heynckes at Bayern.