FC Bayern faces an unusual Bundesliga matchup on Sunday. For the first time ever, the German record champions will play on the road against SV Elversberg. While Munich dropped points for the first time recently following a 0-0 draw at Schalke, the newly promoted team has had a perfect start to the season.
Vincent Kompany, therefore, isn’t taking this as a supposedly easy task. At the press conference ahead of the away game in Saarland, the Bayern coach made it clear that his team will approach the opponent with the necessary respect.
“We take every game seriously. I’m glad we’re playing Elversberg and that we have the opportunity to face this team. Every season brings new challenges. For FC Bayern, this is a first. I always look forward to learning new things about an opponent, their coach, and their players. That’s something I love about soccer. There’s only one thing that matters, no matter where we go: We always want to show what FC Bayern is all about. It’s a new location for us, but we still want to be the same Bayern.”
The 40-year-old’s message is clear: Regardless of the opponent or venue, the Munich team should bring their own standards to the field.
Kompany sees major differences compared to Schalke
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The matchup is also interesting in light of the most recent Bundesliga game. At Schalke, FC Bayern struggled for a long time against an aggressive opponent with a compact defense. Despite numerous chances, the Munich team failed to score in the 0-0 draw.
Kompany, however, expects a different challenge in Elversberg. The Belgian has studied the newly promoted team closely and sees clear differences between the two sides.
“We played against Schalke last week and against Elversberg this week, and both teams were successful in different ways last season. Elversberg relied more on possession and creativity with the ball, while Schalke relied more on counter-pressing and the transition game. You can see that very clearly in the data. They’re a team that laid the foundation for success through their soccer skills and has now gotten off to a very strong start in the Bundesliga.”
Kompany seems particularly impressed by the newly promoted team’s quality of play. Accordingly, Elversberg should by no means focus exclusively on defense against the record champions.
Bayern wants to be “the same” in Saarland as well
For Bayern, however, the priority will likely be to get back on track after the surprising loss of points at Schalke. Midweek, they already made a convincing start to the new Champions League season with a 5-0 win over Bodø/Glimt.
Now they’re looking to follow that up with another victory in the Bundesliga. The situation is quite unusual: Elversberg has won its first two games of the season and, with six points, sits ahead of FC Bayern, which has four points to its name following a 5-1 win over Stuttgart and a draw at Schalke.
Kompany, however, isn’t letting that rattle him. Instead, the Belgian even seems to be enjoying his new challenge. A new opponent, a new stadium, and a different style of play than what Bayern saw most recently at Schalke—these are precisely the challenges that excite the Bayern coach.
Therefore, there will be no change to the fundamental approach. Even for the debut in Elversberg, Kompany’s directive remains the same: Bayern should play like Bayern.