Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany understands the rigors of the modern game and knows that such a condensed schedule can take its toll on a team.
“There’s no more difficult spell than having three games in six days, with two of them away. That’s a factor, but we’re used to it. It doesn’t change our goals just because the fixture list isn’t ideal. But we still want to win,” Kompany said during his press conference (as captured by FCBayern.com). “Leverkusen have reached their top form under the new coach. They lost a lot of talent but also brought in talent. When you see how many chances they create and how many goals they score, they’re still a dangerous team that’s picked up results in the Bundesliga. So, this is still a top game in the Bundesliga. And we’ve got the rivalry of the past few years that still exists in our squad.”
“It’s not my job to decide who’s the best of our competitors. All I care about is that we win. The fact is, the rivalry from last season is still there. When we face an opponent like this, we mustn’t underestimate them – and we won’t. But we’re playing at home. We have complete faith in our players. It’s still football, there are no guarantees, but we feel that we can deliver a good performance.”
One thing Kompany wants to avoid seeing is free-kicks from Alejandro Grimaldo.
“We just hope there’s no dangerous free-kicks. That’s the truth. I can spend ages explaining tactics, but there’s just the hope for no silly fouls and that he doesn’t have a great day with free-kicks — and that our goalkeeper helps out here. You can’t do much more. If we score one goal more, I’ll still be pleased,” said Kompany.
The head coach also touted his defensive group for their work earlier in the week.
”My credit for the last game goes above all to our defense. Nobody else will say that and praise them. It’s different for me as a former defender. We won duels, were aggressive in defending the space. What the guys did last time out in Cologne was very important to get through the pressure. And it’s not just Jona Tah but also Minjae Kim and Dayot Upamecano. I also need to include the midfielders, Harry Kane and the wide men who all helped there. And the fact that Manuel Neuer and Jonas Urbig do their job is also important. But in the end, the defenders did their job, won their duels, and that was the difference,” Kompany stated.
Finally, Kompany gave an update on the team’s health, which is looking good and the running stats, which put Bayern Munich far out in front of the rest of the league.
“Everyone’s ready, including Manuel Neuer,” said Kompany. “It always depends on what you want to do with the ball. I personally believe that we’re very active in possession, cover a lot of ground with the ball. That’s what leads to those stats. There’s also the positional thinking where we wait for the ball and are dangerous there. Or a mix with being active in possession, which makes it tougher for the opposition and forces defenders to make decisions. The first question for a defender when the ball goes in behind is whether I run or stick with my man. That creates mistakes. We want to find space, dribble and shoot with the quality of our players.”
With the midweek DFB-Pokal match out of the way, Bayern Munich returns its focus to the Bundesliga.
In this instance, the animosity in the board room might be greater than what we will see on the pitch as Bayer Leverkusen will make the trip to the Allianz Arena to square off with league leaders.
While Bayer Leverkusen has made a strong turnaround from where it was at the beginning of the season, this group is still far from Xabi Alonso’s group of “wonder boys”, who won the Bundesliga two years ago.
Let’s dive into this match and break it all down. This is what we have on tap for the next edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show:
