Guardiola relishing Chivas friendly

Pep Guardiola expects his Bayern Munich side to put on a show when they face Chivas Guadalajara in New York on Friday.

The Bundesliga side will face Mexican outfit Chivas in a friendly at the Red Bull Arena in the city where Guardiola lived during a sabbatical before he took over as Bayern coach.

Guardiola expects a stern test from Chivas and has stressed the importance of Bayern entertaining fans in the United States.

He said: “We are in the beginning of the season and of course all these kinds of games are important and we travel with a lot of desire to the United States because it’s a huge country and we are so pleased to be there.

“We are playing against a Mexican team, I played there. I know Chivas very well because I played them two or three times when I was training Barcelona.

“Mexican football is very good; it is a good test for us. There are a lot of Mexican supporters in New York and we are delighted to play against them.

“We have to play good because the Mexican teams are very good with the ball; they are so dynamic because they are small guys but also quick and fast players, and we have to be prepared as well as possible.

“They play so well and their national team did well in Brazil. It is a good test for us and I am pretty happy because they play with three defenders but I don’t know how Chivas is going to play. I imagine that they play good and we are going to play the best as possible.

“The reason why all the big teams around the world are travelling in this period is to get to know our culture and our football in other places.

“I think the development of football in the United States every year is better. Obviously, Jurgen Klinsmann is training the national team, so I think it’s important for us to get to show our football, to show our mentality and how we are as a club in New York, absolutely one of the best cities in the world.

“We have to prepare as best as possible to give our best image in this country.”