Vincent Kompany is facing his biggest challenge yet in his short stint as Bayern Munich coach. He says it’s time to learn. Kompany’s Bayern was comprehensively outplayed in the 4-1 loss to Barcelona on Wednesday as Raphinha picked holes in the backline to score a hat trick.
Kompany tried to respond with a quadruple substitution in the second half, but it had little impact. Kompany told broadcaster DAZN that there could be “no excuses” and emphasized unity at a club which was notorious for its locker-room drama under his predecessors. “We will of course stick together and learn from this game,” he said.
It was part of a broader slump by German clubs in the Champions League this week. Borussia Dortmund gave up a 2-0 lead in its 5-2 loss at Real Madrid, while Leipzig’s loss to Liverpool left it with no points so far. Bayer Leverkusen seemed to have one eye on its Bundesliga title defense after making eight changes in a 1-1 draw at Brest, while Stuttgart was the only team with much to celebrate after beating Juventus.
For Bayern, at least, the signs had been there earlier. Even after the high point of a 9-2 demolition of Dinamo Zagreb last month, Harry Kane warned Bayern had a tendency to lose focus and “against the top opposition we could get punished for that.” So it proved.
“We had a spell in the first half when we looked really dangerous, but Barcelona played well, and we didn’t exploit the time when we were better. Then we got punished in transitions,�.
