Thomas Mueller says Bayern Munich are desperate to end their German Super Cup drought against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday after three years without getting their hands on the trophy.
The German champions have lost the last three Super Cup showdowns, when the best two teams in Germany go head-to-head, and they face last season’s Bundesliga runners-up Dortmund at Borussia’s sold-out Signal Iduna Park stadium.
Mueller scored what proved to be the winner when Bayern last won the title at Munich’s Allianz Arena in August 2012 with a 2-1 win over Dortmund.
Since then, Bayern have failed in their last three attempts to win the trophy, losing 4-2 at Dortmund in 2013, 2-0 to Dortmund again in 2014 and losing in a penalty shoot-out at Wolfsburg after last year’s final finished 1-1 following extra time.
With Carlo Ancelotti succeeding Pep Guardiola as head coach, Bayern will be missing injured stars Jerome Boateng, new-signing Renato Sanches and Arjen Robben, but Mueller is relishing the clash.
“We never go into any game saying ‘we don’t care’: this is about a title and prestige, even if the Super Cup, directly at the start of a season, doesn’t have the same worth as a league or cup title,” said Mueller in Thursday’s press conference.
“This is a title we haven’t won for three years and it’s always special against Borussia Dortmund, for us and the fans.
“It’s more fun that just playing a meaningless friendly.”
After four weeks of holidays since the semifinals of Euro 2016, Mueller says he has no concerns about his goal drought in France, when he failed to score in six matches at the European championships.
“These things happen sometimes in sport,” said the 26-year-old, who scored 20 Bundesliga goals last season and 32 in all competitions.
“From my perspective, I gave everything, so of course I am not happy about the way the summer went, but it’s not going to throw me off the rails.
“I am very relaxed and am really looking forward to the season.”
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