Bayern Munich have had a mixed Champions League campaign up to this point. There were some highs, such as defeating Paris Saint Germain or the incredible 9-2 victory over Dinamo Zagreb, but there were also devastating losses against FC Barcelona, Aston Villa and Feyenoord Rotterdam. In fact, Bayern only won one out of four away matches in the UCL group phase. There was a growing narrative that Bayern were far too attacking, far too vulnerable at the back and just not balanced enough to go far in the competition.
The number of away victories has grown to 3, however, following today’s 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen and it was arguably the best Champions League away performance the club has put in this season. Certainly, head coach Vincent Kompany was happy about it:
“I think the boys showed again today how hungry they are for what they want to achieve,” the Belgian coach said after the match (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “We’ve won now, and I don’t want to get too carried away.
“I thought the second half was very interesting. In the first half, we played our normal pressing game, digging deep. We knew we wouldn’t get many chances, but we created some. In the second half, we defended well, even though they had a lot of attacking players on the pitch. But we still fought hard, defended crosses — and were still dangerous. It was a good balance. I’m really looking forward to facing Inter, but there are still a few games in between. My job is always to prepare for the next game.”
There was that word again. Balance. It really did seem like a balanced performance, did it not? Amid the feeling that Bayern are starting to find that right balance, there is the feeling that the Bavarians might be clicking at just the right time as the business end of the season wears on.
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