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Football

21st Jul 2018

Renato Sanches marks Bayern Munich return by scoring free-kick

Simon Lloyd

Last season was one to forget for Renato Sanches

Signed from Benfica by Bayern Munich after helping Portugal win Euro 2016, Sanches was loaned to Swansea a year ago to get more first-team football.

Arriving at the Liberty Stadium as one of the most highly rated youngsters in world football, the 20-year-old’s time in the Premier League was, to put it mildly, a bit of a disaster.

Poor early performances saw him mocked for his wayward passing (we all remember the advertising board incident), until he eventually lost his place in the first team. Having picked up a hamstring injury in January, he failed to make another appearance as Swansea were relegated from the English top flight.

With his nightmarish season behind him, Sanches has since returned to Bayern where he is preparing for the new season.

He was named as a starter in the German champions’ preseason friendly with Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, marking the occasion by scoring a free-kick.

PSG had a half-time lead in the game in Klagenfurt but Bayern equalised through Javi Martinez on the hour mark. Sanches scored what proved to be the decisive goal eight minutes later, bending his set-piece around the wall and inside the near post from an acute angle…

https://twitter.com/Destaquito2/status/1020693596469686278

A smart free-kick… or maybe just another mis-hit pass?

Bayern later added a third goal courtesy of youngster Joshua Zirkzee. Their next preseason game sees them take on Juventus in Philadelphia on Thursday.