James and Tolisso make debuts as Bayern win Telekom Cup

James Rodriguez enjoyed a successful Bayern Munich debut on Saturday as he helped the Bundesliga champions defend their Telekom Cup title, with Corentin Tolisso also making his first appearance for the club.

Bayern beat Werder Bremen 2-0 in the final, with Thomas Muller and Juan Bernat on the scoresheet, while James – signed on a two-year loan deal from Real Madrid earlier this week – pulled the strings in the number 10 role for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Muller wasted a chance to make the victory even more emphatic from the penalty spot but the result was never in doubt in a competition that sees games played over a single 45-minute period.

Ancelotti’s men have now won four of the last five Telekom Cups, having beaten Mainz to take the title in January.

Forget the penalty, let’s talk about how good that @JuanBernat goal was again!  #SVWFCB 0-2 pic.twitter.com/9QQncybAcg

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) July 15, 2017

Kingsley Coman went close with a viciously swerving drive after 10 minutes and Bayern then took the lead as they dominated the low-tempo opening stages at Borussia-Park.

Muller, wearing the captain’s armband following the retirement of Philipp Lahm, collected a pass from the right flank, rolled his man and bent a delightful finish from 20 yards into Michael Zetterer’s top-left corner.

And victory was secured after 32 minutes when a delightful move saw left-back Bernat finish well after a neat one-two with Muller sent him clear into the penalty area.

Muller soon had a chance to add to his earlier goal when young striker Franck Evina was dragged down in the penalty area, but Zetterer dived low to his right to keep out the forward’s poor effort, then reacted quickly to block Muller’s rebound strike.

#FCBayern win the #TelekomCup again! #SVWFCB pic.twitter.com/G5DYBHtbHq

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) July 15, 2017

Bayern progressed to the final with a 1-0 win against Hoffenheim after Robert Lewandowski scored the only goal of the game after just six minutes in his first appearance of Bayern’s pre-season campaign, the striker controlling a brilliant scissor-kick volley into the bottom-left corner.

Werder booked their place with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out victory over Borussia Monchengladbach after a 0-0 draw, with the competition’s hosts Gladbach then beaten again on penalties, Hoffenheim triumphing 6-5 in the third-place play-off shoot-out after another scoreless match.