Kim Min-Jae’s header and Luis Diaz’s thunderous strike gave Bayern Munich a deserved win over Aston Villa in a friendly at Kawloon’s Kai Tak Sports Park.
South Korea centre-back Kim met Tom Bischof’s inswinging cross to open the scoring in the 37th minute before electric substitute Luis Diaz, who had been thwarted by Tammy Abraham’s goalline clearance a minute earlier, hammered in via the crossbar to double Die Roten’s advantage in the 73rd minute.
Villa struggled to threaten their opponents for much of the contest and were grateful to Marco Bizot for a marvellous double save to prevent Bayern from scoring a second goal earlier, denying Josip Stanisic and Arijon Ibrahimovic.
Joao Gomes powered in a reply for the Premier League side from the edge of the box with eight minutes remaining and substitute Abraham will feel he could have done better with a chance to head an equaliser from close range, forcing a springing save from Manuel Neuer after Bradley Burrowes crossed for the striker in space.
Bayern team vs Villa
Kim and Bischof were the duo to keep their places from Bayern’s 2-1 win over Jeju three days earlier.
Kompany said before the game that he “loves” back-up goalkeeper Jonas Urbig but Neuer started in goal as captain.
Joshua Kimmich missed training with a minor groin strain and was on the bench, as was Bara Sapoko Ndiaye, who had been resting because of a knock to the midfielder’s knee.
Forwards Harry Kane and Michael Olise, defender Dayot Upamecano and wingers Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry did not feature in the squad as they continued to recuperate following the World Cup.
Wideman Alphonso Davies and new striker Ismael Saibari are in Munich working on their fitness.
Bayern Munich starting XI: Manuel Neuer, Kim Min-jae, Jonathan Tah, Tom Bischof, Nathaniel Brown, Arijon Ibrahimovic, Sacha Boey, Konrad Laimer, Tim Binder, Maycon Cardozo, Aleksandar Pavlovic
Bayern substitutes: Sven Ulreich, David Podar-Stiube, Jonas Urbig, Joshua Kimmich, Luis Diaz, Joao Palhinha, Hiroki Ito, Felipe Chavez, Filip Pavic, Bara Sapoko Ndiaye, Vincent Manuba, Josip Stanisic, Guido Della Rovere, Bastian Assomo
Aston Villa team vs Bayern Munich
Boubacar Kamara returned from injury and scored as a second-half substitute for Villa against Pathum in Bangkok the previous Tuesday and the Villa midfielder started this time in one of five changes for his side.
Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen, Brian Madjo and George Hemmings also came in, with TJ Carroll, Triston Rowe and Lamare Bogarde moving to the bench.
Captain John McGinn (knee) and new winger Alejandro Garnacho (face) were injured, with both expected to be ready by the start of the Premier League season.
Aston Villa starting XI: Marco Bizot, Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen, Evann Guessand, Joao Gomes, Brian Madjo, George Hemmings
Villa substitutes: James Wright, Tyrone Mings, Owen Asemota, Tammy Abraham, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Lamare Bogarde, Triston Rowe, TJ Carroll, Luka Lynch, Bradley Burrowes
What’s next? Bayern Munich, Aston Villa fixtures
Villa meet Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup on Wednesday (20:00). Bayern’s competitive season starts with the German Super Cup showpiece against Borussia Dortmund on August 22 (19:30 BST).
Bayern vs Aston Villa stats
- Both competitive encounters between the teams have resulted in 1-0 Villa wins, most recently in the league phase of the Champions League in October 2024
- The previous edition was the 1982 final of the European Cup – now the Champions League – in Rotterdam
- Villa faced two German clubs in pre-season in 2025/26, losing 3-1 at Hansa Rostock and drawing 2-2 with Frankfurt in Louisville
- They avoided German opposition in last season’s Europa League until the final, beating Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul
- The Villans have won five and lost two of their competitive meetings with German teams, prevailing in each of the last three
- Bayern’s sole fixture against an English club in pre-season 2025/26 resulted in a 4-0 win over Tottenham in Munich, Kane scoring once against his former club
- In their two meetings with English teams in the 2025/26 Champions League, Bayern won 3-1 at home to Chelsea in their opening match of the campaign and lost 3-1 at Arsenal on Matchday 5
- They have won 29, lost 18 and drawn 19 of their competitive fixtures against English teams, although they are without a victory in their last three such games outside of Munich
- One of the last 40 of those matches has been 0-0: a draw at Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 in 2019
- Since then, Bayern have scored in 13 of their 14 competitive games against English opponents, the exception being a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals in 2023
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