When Bayern Munich got thumped 4-1 by FC Barcelona in the Champions League, it woke up something inside of Vincent Kompany. Already under scrutiny by then, he took it upon himself to completely change the way Bayern played:
Last month’s defeat against Barcelona was a learning process for Vincent Kompany. After the game, the coach asked around internally, gathered opinions and made a minimal but important adjustment. Bayern are still pressing intensely and high, thereby nipping counterattacks in the bud. But Kompany pulled back the high line and slowed down the press a bit. That means if a 1v1 duel is lost in the attacking third, there’s even more protection behind to avoid being too open and easily countered as was the case in Barcelona.
– German news outlet kicker as captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia
Since then, Bayern have won six straight games (unlike a certain club from Manchester), kept a clean sheet in all of them, and scored 17 goals on aggregate. A tough run of games await the Bavarians, so let’s hope that Kompany and the lads follow through.
