You don’t necessarily expect a taxi driver or anyone else to be full of the spring joys at 4:57 a.m. in Schwabing. But on this Monday morning, the gentleman who took me to Munich Airport was brimming with Bavarian buoyance.
“I really like this Kompany-Bayern team,” he told me in German, his love for the local club enhanced by its current coach.
Vincent Kompany’s outpouring of joy in front of the Südkurve, after Bayern Munich‘s 34th Bundesliga title (their 35th German league title) was secured Sunday with a 4-2 win over Stuttgart, was a beautiful human moment. As part of my commentary duties at the Allianz Arena, I interviewed the coach pitchside before the game. While the Belgian was as pleasant as usual, there was an inner steeliness and determination to look at the bigger picture in a season that offers a potential treble. He wasn’t particularly interested in talking about a Meisterfeier (title party) with so many key games to come in other competitions. But celebrate he did after the match, and rightly so, having become the first Bayern coach since Hansi Flick to successfully defend the Bundesliga crown.
The sense of Zusammenhalt (solidarity) within this gifted multinational squad is clear. Personally, I loved that an image of the now-famous porcelain cockatoo ornament was emblazoned on to the white T-shirts Bayern staff had prepared for the postmatch revelry.
The cockatoo became a symbol of last season’s success after it was relocated from its former residence, the Käfer restaurant, which was the venue for the players’ victory meal. It’s the inexplicable inside joke humor forged through an unlikely source like this that keeps teamwork at the forefront. Now the ornament has entered Bayern lore, although you get the feeling midfielder Leon Goretzka, who is leaving the club in the summer, might have designs on taking it with him to his next destination.
The cockatoo is now inextricably linked with “Mia san mia” and the Kompany chapters, and several intriguing ones are yet to be written this season. That’s why the Sunday night party was a highly abbreviated affair devoid of the traditional Weissbierduschen (wheat beer showers) on the pitch. They can be put on hold until the final league game of the season against FC Cologne on May 16.
Bayern’s DFB-Pokal semifinal against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday is no one’s idea of a picnic. The cup has been a serious and perplexing problem for Bayern since their last cup lift in 2020. Then there is the difficult matter of a two-legged tie with Paris Saint-Germain in the last four of the UEFA Champions League. Kompany must serve a touchline ban in the first leg.
In assessing Bayern’s Bundesliga season, though, at no point did it feel as though they were really under pressure. It’s quite the statement when you open the campaign with a 6-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig. Bayern were especially impressive against the better sides in the league, the current top five all taken care of at home and away.
Every opposing coach knew Bayern had the capacity to cut loose and almost score at will. At 109 goals and counting, they are already eight ahead of their 1971-72 counterparts, whose old record stood until just over a week ago. It’s not hard to imagine Kompany’s team setting a new scoring mark to last for eternity.
The attacking axis of Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz has taken a serious bite out of opponents — who can argue with 95 goal involvements between the three of them? That’s without even mentioning the unfortunate Serge Gnabry, whose season appears to be over due to an abductor injury, putting his World Cup dream in doubt.
Bayern’s top signings have all fallen in the Volltreffer (complete success) category. Díaz, center back Jonathan Tah and midfielder Tom Bischof fit perfectly with the Bayern ethos.
As we await a decision from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on his future, with the strong possibility that the 40-year-old will extend his contract by another year, signs are positive regarding backup Jonas Urbig. It was shrewd of Kompany to let him start against Stuttgart, and one suspects he will begin a few more Bundesliga matches before the Meisterschale presentation.
There really is no such thing as a Bayern B team. At just about every position, we find quality and depth. Kompany feels it’s less about rotation and more about using his squad to the best possible effect that day.
Goretzka and fullback Raphaël Guerreiro will be leaving (likewise striker Nicolas Jackson, in all likelihood). But the formidable nucleus will remain intact, and Bayern fans can revel in the prospect of another season of easy-on-the-eye, winning football.
Everyone is free to have an opinion on the caliber of their domestic competitors. But take nothing away from Bayern in their present guise. This is one of the best versions of the Rekordmeister I’ve ever seen.
