In international soccer, scheduling is much more complicated than in American sports. American season schedules follow a rigid structure where teams only compete against teams in their league, and international soccer includes friendly matches and tournaments outside of regular league play. While there are some of those types of games in American sports, they are rare and generally not competitive, as American teams play weak competition. One example of a highly competitive friendly competition in soccer is the Audi Cup, a biennial two-day pre-season friendly soccer tournament. Today, let's look at the Audi Cup and the connection between Audi and Bayern Munich.
What Is the Audi Cup?
Founded in 2009, the Audi Cup was organized and promoted by Audi AG, a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles. Audi decided to create the tournament to celebrate its 100th year of trading, replacing the Franz-Beckenbauer Cup, which had taken place in 2007 and 2008. The Franz-Beckenbauer Cup was back on the schedule in 2010, leading to the Audi Cup occurring every two years, with the most recent in 2019. It was held opposite the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro and played before the start of the Bundesliga season.Each tournament has been hosted at the Allianz Arena in Munich, home to Bayern Munich. And in the preseason months of the season, fans have been excited to bet online for the Audi Cup as they anxiously awaited the regular season.
Which Teams Have Been the Most Successful?
Hosts Bayern Munich won the initial Audi Cup in 2019, led by Thomas Muller's two goals. The first tournament featured Bayern, Manchester United of England, Milan of Italy, and Boca Juniors of La Boca. The tournament grew in profile over the years, starting with the 2015 Cup, which saw both Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur participate, followed by Atletico Madrid and Liverpool in 2017.Bayern Munich has been the most successful team, winning three of the six cups, including back-to-back in 2013 and 2015. They have also been the runner-up twice. Along with Bayer, the tournament has seen Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Tottenham Hotspur take home championships. Thomas Muller is the all-time leading goal scorer with six, followed by Karim Benzema and Thiago with three.
At this point, you've noticed that Bayern Munich has noted each tournament in their home country, Germany, and shares a home with Audi. So, what is their connection?
Audi's Partnership With Bayern Munich
Since 2002, Audi has been an official partner with Bayern Munich. The German luxury car maker naturally selected the most outstanding team in German soccer history. Bayern leads the all-time table by over 700 points over Borussia Dortmund and has an impressive 32 championships.The partnership was expanded in 2020 and extended to 2029. Audi also announced in 2021 that it was a partner of the FC Bayern Women's team. According to Audi, the partnership with FC Bayern Munich is "pushing ahead "with sustainable mobility, among other projects. This includes the team's training grounds at Sabener Strasse, which has 38 charging stations for electric vehicles. Audi has installed 21 charging points at Bayern's home Allianz Arena so far.
The partnership included the Audi Cup, a tournament paused in 2021 and 2023 and temporarily replaced with the Audi Summer Tour.
What Is the Audi Summer Tour?
The first Audi Summer Tour occurred in 2016 during an Audi Cup off-year, with the 2023 version representing the eighth such tour. The 2023 tour included a stop in Tokyo to play against Manchester City and Kawasaki Frontale At National Stadium as part of the Audi Football Summit.They then traveled to Singapore and faced Liverpool for the Singapore Trophy. In a high-octane scoring affair, Bayern was down 2–0 after just 28 minutes of play. Serge Gnabry cut the lead in half with his 34th-minute goal, and just nine minutes later, Leroy Sane tied things up with another goal.
Liverpool regained the lead on Luis Diaz's 66th-minute goal, giving them a 3–2 lead. The drama had only just begun, though. With just nine minutes of regulation time left, Josip Stanisic connected on a rebound goal off a De Ligt header stopped by the Liverpool goalie to tie the game. With the game looking to go to extra time, Frans Kratzig sent everybody home early, connecting on a 91st-minute left-footed goal to give Bayer a 4–3 lead that would be the final score, ending a thrilling Audi Summer Tour.
