Ever since the 4-1 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League, Bayern Munich have bee flawless. Since that night last month, they have gone on two win three matches on the bounce across all competitions. They beat VfL Bochum 5-0 in the Bundesliga, Mainz 4-0 in the DFB-Pokal, and most recently, they routed Union Berlin 3-0 in the Bundesliga, led by a brace from Harry Kane.
Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images
On paper, the East Berlin outfit, Bochum, and Mainz are not as comparable to a side like Hansi Flick’s high-firing Barcelona side, but there are still no guarantees in any competition and Vincent Kompany has got his men firing on all cylinders at the moment. They are still at the top of the Bundesliga table and through to the third round of the DFB-Pokal, but they are in need of changing their fortunes around in the Champions League.
After losses to Barcelona and Aston Villa from two of their first three matches in the competition, Bayern currently reside in the 23rd spot in the Champions League table with the new format and are in desperate need of a win. Their next test in the competition lies in the form of playing host to SL Benfica midweek — a test that Kompany said he is putting all of the pressure aside for. For the Belgian boss, every Bayern match comes with its own form and level or pressure, so the Benfica test will be no different from that sentiment.
“There’s always pressure every game at Bayern. My focus is on the game, not on the pressure around it. As a coach, my goal is to try to win every game. It’s a must-win game in the sense that we want to win every game. But with the new format, it’s not a decisive game for the Champions League. There’s pressure to get into the top 8, but [Wednesday’s game] is not about advancing or being eliminated from the Champions League. In any case, our focus is on always winning,” Kompany explained (via @iMiaSanMia).
While the new format does afford Bayern plenty of time to climb their way up the table to get into automatic qualification for the knockout stages, it would certainly make their lives easier to go into the final phase of first round matches with some breathing room.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Bayern Munich’s dominant 3-0 victory over Union Berlin in the Bundesliga? Awesome, then check out our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show to see who started, who scored, who subbed on, and where this all goes from here. You can get the show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
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