Midweek Warm-up: Are PSG, Real Madrid circling around Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano?; Champions League predictions; Bagpipes!; and MORE!

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Is Dayot Upamecano playing Bayern Munich?

That is a question being asked by many fans at the moment as the French defender is still sitting on what is believed to be an unchanged offer that has been in place

for weeks (maybe months).

So…what gives? If nothing is changing, why is Upamecano delaying his decision? Is he hoping that Bayern Munich will cave-in to his demands? Is Upamecano taking Bayern Munich’s offer and shopping it to other clubs to see what more he can get elsewhere?

Something is up…but what? Well, Football Espana offered this blurb, which indicates that Real Madrid could be looking to convince Upamecano to eschew a new deal with Bayern Munich and make the free move to Spain this summer:

Real Madrid are on the hunt for a defender this summer, and there is positive news coming from the Bundesliga. One of their primary targets for 2026 is yet to sign a new contract with Bayern Munich.

That would be Dayot Upamecano, who continues to run down his deal at the Bavarian giants.

This comes in the context of Real Madrid reportedly stepping up their efforts to bring in a defender in the summer. It is not clear exactly whom their top target is, but it is certainly enough to make Bayern Munich nervy, given Upamecano is one of the players on their shortlist. The two clubs have done battle for several players in recent history too, including David Alaba and Alphonso Davies.

The Associated Press also indicated that both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are interested in Upamecano.

Something is amiss with this situation. For weeks, it was reported that deal was close to being done, with both sides sounding very confident about the situation. Now, well, Bayern Munich is reportedly “irritated”, while Upamecano and his camp have been radio silent.

So, yeah, there is a reason to — at least — wonder if this deal might not get done, especially after Bayern Munich set a deadline for a decision.

About the only thing certain about this situation is that fans are getting more and more uneasy. At some point, something has to give — which way will it end up? Right now, it seems like no one actually knows, maybe not even Upamecano.

Song of the Midweek: “Prickly Thorn, but Sweetly Worn” by The White Stripes

You know, I was in the mood for some bagpipes this morning. After realizing that I had already used “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” by AC/DC (just a gem of a rock song featured here in the Weekend Warm-up), I needed to dig into the archives.

So, to get my bagpipe fix, I went into the catalog of The White Stripes for this underused tune. Released in 2007, on the “Icky Thump” album, this one did not get a ton of airplay (really, probably none), but I always liked it. Hopefully, you enjoy it, too:

Ah hell, I saw this X post this week of AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” and Angus is just a freakin’ madman during it. Let’s run it back (this is not the same video I used in the Weekend Warm-up):

Entertainment Rundown

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

We will give our full review on Friday in the Weekend Warm-up, but it was better than the premiere (minus the swinging prosthetic d*ng).

Heat 2

Heat is one of my all-time favorite movies and has the best gunfight/shootout that you could find in a movie. It had an all-star cast, a great story, and was done pretty much perfectly.

Now, there might be a sequel (apparently there is a book for this already?):

As history has shown us, it is tough to recreate such greatness, but I will give this a chance (if, of course, it happens).

Predictions

This match has the potential to blow up in Bayern Munich’s face.

PSV Eindhoven is desperate and needs a win to help clinch a spot in the next round. While not fully healthy, this squad will be motivated to take on a Bayern Munich team who has not necessarily been at its best of late.

At some point, though, Bayern Munich has to arise from its slumber. The safe bet is that both of these teams are going to attack the hell out of each other and take advantage of some questionable defending. Let’s call it a win for Bayern Munich, but it will be close.

Prediction: PSV Eindhoven 2-3 Bayern Munich

Ajax 2-1 Olympiacos
Arsenal 3-0 Kairat Almaty
AS Monaco 1-2 Juventus
Athletic Club 2-2 Sporting CP
Atlético Madrid 2-1 Bodo/Glimt
FC Barcelona 3-0 FC Copenhagen
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Villarreal
Benfica 1-3 Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Inter Milan
Club Brugge 2-1 Marseille
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool 3-0 FK Qarabag
Manchester City 3-0 Galatasaray
Napoli 1-2 Chelsea
Pafos 1-0 Slavia Prague
Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 Newcastle United
Union St.-Gilloise 0-1 Atalanta

Prediction Records

Total: 363-202
Perfect Picks: 36
Bundesliga Last Matchday: 8-3 (includes two makeup games)
Bundesliga Overall: 103-69
DFB-Pokal: 45-11
World Cup Qualifiers/Friendlies: 99-45
Champions League: 72-54
Club World Cup: 39-23
Club Friendlies: 4-0
Franz Beckenbauer Supercup: 1-0

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…