Bayern stars happy with depth

Bayern Munich’s stars are confident the fierce competition for places at the Allianz Arena will be a positive for the side.

Bayern enjoyed an historic treble in 2012/13, lifting the Bundesliga title, the German Cup and the Champions League to send departing coach Jupp Heynckes out on the best possible note.

The Bavarians have appointed former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola as Heynckes’ successor, and he wasted no time in bringing playmaker Thiago Alcantara in from his old team.

Despite the wealth of talent at Guardiola’s disposal, Bayern winger Franck Ribery is confident the new manager will find a way to keep everybody happy.

“The manager is the boss and decides who is going to play,” Ribery said.

“Obviously we have many great players and many big names, but this is Bayern.

“I think we managed it well last year. We have to concentrate and be positive.

“All the players want to play, but that is difficult. For a long season we need all of our players.”

Bayern captain Philipp Lahm echoed Ribery’s sentiments, and feels the club’s fearsome depth can only be a positive heading into an arduous campaign.

“The manager is always our boss, we have to do what he wants,” Lahm said.

“I don’t see any problems, we also had a big squad last season.

“So when you have many players, you have more depth but we also have more quality than last season.”

Bayern meet Barcelona in a friendly in Munich on Wednesday, and Thiago said it would be an emotional experience coming up against his former team-mates.

“I’m a Bayern Munich player right now so it will be a little bit special, tomorrow’s match,” he said.