Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1054415
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 NOVEMBER 2018 22 SPORTS FOOTBALL Bayern Munich 2017-18 turnover up slightly to €657 million BAYERN Munich's annual turnover for 2017-18 reached 657.4 million euros (584.95 million pounds), up almost three percent from last season but net profits were down, the German champions said yesterday. Bayern won their sixth successive league title last season but European success eluded them again as they crashed out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, losing twice to eventual winners Real Madrid. Turnover was up from 640 million euros the previous season while EBITDA stood at 136.5 million, down from 149 million in 2016-17. Net profit was also down to 29 million euros from 39 million. "Bayern Munich can be very satisfied with the financial results for 2017-18," club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a statement. "Apart from the sporting success with victory of the German league title and the good run in the Champions League, these results are proof that Bayern also had a good year in financial terms." The Bavarians have not had the best start to their current domestic campaign, ly- ing in fifth place in the Bundesliga, seven points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund. However, they are all but through to the Champions League knockout stage, top of Group E with two matches remaining. DUTCH legend Clarence Seedorf says Manches- ter United are still in transition and should re- main patient with boss Jose Mourinho. United are eighth in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Manchester City and have a negative goal difference (-1) after 12 games for the first time since 1977/78. But four-time Champions League winner Seedorf has backed Mourinho and believes the club are still finding their feet after Sir Alex Fer- guson's departure in 2013. "After Ferguson it's just difficult," the current Cameroon head coach told Sky Sports News. "It's a transition phase still, and not only Ferguson but the players that he had. Once the last team of [Paul] Scholes, [Ryan] Giggs and [Wayne] Rooney falls away, it's a part of the club that leaves the heart of the team. To replace that you need to have patience. Seedorf's Premier League ambition "That's not only happened with Manchester United, it's happening in Milan but they need to keep on working. I think they have all the means to be able to stay competitive. "He [Mourinho] definitely has an interesting track record. Mourinho has won the League Cup and Europa League at United. It's up to the club and him to understand whether his management still has influence and he can turn things around. He definitely has the capacity – I don't think we have to discuss Mourinho's qualities but some- times things just don't go and that could be the main decision to stop working with each other." Manchester United need to be patient with Jose Mourinho – Clarence Seedorf