Last season, Bayern Munich were well and truly embarrassed by Bayer Leverkusen. It wasn’t just the eighteen point gap between the two teams at the end of the season, it was the WAY Xabi Alonso’s team demonstrated their dominance when the two sides met in February.
That was the moment that effectively broke Tuchel’s Bayern. Leverkusen went on to collect 35 points from a potential 39 available, while Bayern just managed 22 in the same number of games.
Now, Vincent Kompany has a chance to make things right, and show the world that Bayern Munich mean business this season. We already covered WHY his new-look Bayern is different from the one coached by Tuchel on our recent podcast (which you can listen to below or on Spotify), but all that won’t mean much if it ends in another loss regardless.
So, can Kompany succeed where Tuchel failed?
Team news
Not much has changed on the injury front. Daniel Peretz, Josip Stanišić, Sacha Boey, and Hiroki Ito remain sidelined, though the latter has been inching closer to fitness. Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer, who missed the Bremen game, is confirmed to be back and will almost certainly start in goal on Saturday.
Aside from Neuer, who else can we expect in the starting XI? Well, we know that Kompany prefers Harry Kane up top, with Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry behind him for a four-man offensive setup.
In midfield, Aleksandar Pavlović and Joshua Kimmich are likely to continue, with Raphaël Guerreiro at right-back — the same configuration we saw in the 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb. Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae are both settled in as starters in central defense, which leaves only the left-back spot. Therefore Alphonso Davies, naturally, rounds out the XI.
Here’s what the lineup could look like on Saturday:
Alternatively, Kompany could opt to put João Palhinha in midfield and Kimmich at right-back for a more defensive posture, but so far we haven’t seen any indication that the coach prefers the more conservative approach. Bayern Munich are likely to meet Leverkusen head-on, for better or worse.
Looking for more game discussion? Well, if our main pod didn’t satisfy you, we did an additional preview podcast that goes even more in-depth on the game itself. Listen to it below or on Spotify.
As always, we appreciate all the support!
