Cole's huge respect for Bayern Munich

“Beating Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp in 1999, to clinch the Treble, was part of the best time of my career.

“Just being involved in winning that final and we've met them numerous years after that in the Champions League. They have always been a quality team and you know, playing such a high quality side like that, even in a friendly, will be a big game.

”It's only a pre-season fixture on 5 August but everybody will want to win it.

“We played them twice in the group stages in the Champions League in 1998/99 and there were two draws, as we both qualified obviously. I think it was a case of two evenly matched teams and we were fortunate enough to win the final, as everybody knows. In the group games, it was very tit-for-tat and two good teams cancelling each other out.

”The crazy thing is, when you do play against Bayern, you always know how strong they are going to be, how they usually set up and how they are going to play, because that never really changes. With their qualities, they can beat you on any given day and United can beat them. There is no doubting they are a very good team so it's an ideal friendly to prepare us for the start of the season.

“For me, I think Bayern Munich are like Manchester United. The football club is run extremely well and there is great history and tradition. They're respected by us and vice versa. Any time I have played against them, during my career, and when I was retired and involved in the Legends games, Bayern always treated us very, very well. I think that is a mark of the respect that both teams clearly have for each other.

”Bayern also paid heartfelt tributes on the anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster this year and I think that was always going to be a given with them. With what happened, in Munich, and the fact there is so much respect between the two clubs for so many years now, I don't think that is ever going to change. There is huge respect between the clubs - the staff and the players - and we know it will be a very tough game at the Allianz Arena but one to look forward to.“