Cheers and beers: Guardiola toasts his Bayern team of champions as they celebrate Oktoberfest in Munich







GARY NEVILLE COLUMN

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Pep Guardiola is thriving on and off the pitch at Bayern Munich, merging his and their winning ways and embracing the local Barvarian culture.

The former Barcelona boss led his team on a family day out at Oktoberfest as the annual German festival marked its last official day of celebrations for the year.



Traditional lederhosen, hats and pints the size of their head were the order of the day in Munich.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Pep and Bayern players having a right old knees up



New local: Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has taken beer to a stein in Munich Quality time: Guardiola was joined by his wife, Christina, and his team at Oktoberfest

Bayern couldn't have had a much smoother start to Guardiola's first season, currently topping the Bundesliga, one point ahead of Borussia Dortmund, and they have two wins from two matches in the group stages of the Champions League as they look to defend their title.

Add to that victory over Chelsea in the Super Cup and you have a happy team indeed.



Wives, girlfriends and kids were all welcome as they gathered for the 180th Oktoberfest celebrations at Kaefers Wiesenschaenke.



Beerfest: Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger with girlfriend Sarah Brander

Cheers: Thomas Muller got some training in on his left bicep alongside his wife Lisa

Down in one: Franck Ribery's little one makes short work of her bottle - he is a devout Muslim and doesn't touch alcohol - while Spanish midfielder Javi Martinez gives Oktoberfest the thumbs up



As Europe enters an international break, Bayern's next match won't be until October 19 when they host Mainz in the Bundesliga.

Few Bayern players will be getting a rest during the period, however, with no less than 15 players called up for international duties, including seven for the German national team.



Arjen Robben believes despite his side's top form, the break comes at a good time for Bayern.



'It will do the Bayern players a world of good to be away from the club for a few days and breathe some fresh air and be surrounded by other people for a change,' he said.

Family day: Belgium's Daniel van Buyten was happy to celebrate German beer with his wife Celine

Dress-ups: Also getting in on the act were Arjen Robben with wife Bernadien and Dante and his wife Jocelina



Sweethearts: Striker Claudio Pizarro with his childhood love Karla Salcedo



Young guns: (From left) Mitchell Weiser, Jerome Boateng and Xherdan Shaqiri

This is of course not the first time Guardiola has donned lederhosen in his time at Bayern - the new manager looked perfectly at home in the shorts and braces when he posed for the traditional team photo at the start of the season.



The European champions are also partial to a brew, having tipped beer over each other as they celebrated their 23rd Bundesliga title last year at Allianz Arena.