The Bayern stars’ short trip to Ibiza is currently causing a stir in Munich and in the Bundesliga. Those responsible on the Isar described the surprising excursion as a “team-building measure”, which was agreed in advance with the club. According to current reports, however, numerous FCB players did not fly at all.
Sports director Hasan Salihamidzic told SPORT1 yesterday: “Last week the players informed us that they would like to spend the two days off training in the group in Ibiza. We accepted that as a team-building measure.” Accordingly, the team will stay in Spain until Tuesday and then start preparing for the upcoming Bundesliga game against Stuttgart.
The Ibiza trip comes at an extremely unusual time, as the season is not yet over and the FCB pros, according to their own fans, do not really deserve such a special holiday after the 3-1 defeat against Mainz.
Neuer, Müller & Co. stayed in Munich
As the “BILD” reports, not all Bayern players have made their way to Ibiza. With Manuel Neuer, Sven Ullrich, Thomas Müller, Kingsley Coman, Dayot Upamecano, Bouna Sarr and Niklas Süle, a total of seven professionals stayed in Munich. With a view to the current professional squad, which consists of around 24 players, almost 30 percent of the players have stayed at home. With Neuer, the captain is also missing, and Müller is also vice-captain. According to “BILD” information, Neuer has a private appointment. Müller, on the other hand, still has a cold and was absent due to illness last weekend.
One thing is clear: the term “team-building measure” doesn’t really apply if 7 out of 24 players aren’t there. Especially since one can certainly ask why such a measure is carried out at the end of the season, during ongoing league operations, and not in summer, in preparation for the new season, when new players may also be on board.
“I would definitely not allow something like that”
In addition to their own Bayern fans, there are also critical voices from the Bundesliga. Hertha coach Felix Magath in particular has no understanding for Bayern’s trip to Ibiza. The Berliners are in the middle of a relegation battle two games before the end of the season and can still be intercepted by VfB Stuttgart, the team that is visiting Munich’s Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Magath had already accused Munich of indirect distortion of competition after the Mainz defeat and now added: “I just read that. What can I say? English teams have been doing this for a long time, but I don’t know if there are results like that. I definitely wouldn’t allow something like that, it wouldn’t occur to me. Lets see how it goes on. A championship celebration is understandable once, but not for three weeks,” he emphasized to “BILD”.