Bayern hungry to right last season´s wrongs, says Kompany

Vincent Kompany said his Bayern Munich side are showing all the right signs to avenge their disappointing 2023-24 season following another dominant Bundesliga display.

Kompany watched on as his team thrashed Hoffenheim 5-0 on Wednesday, maintaining their four-point lead at the summit over defending champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Leroy Sane scored either side of half-time, with Raphael Guerreiro, Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry all on target to seal a 13th league win of the campaign.

Bayern are aiming to retain their Bundesliga crown after finishing third behind Stuttgart and Leverkusen last year, the first time in 11 years they had failed to win the title.

They were also dumped out of the DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup and the Champions League, ensuring the club’s first trophyless season since 2011-12.

But Kompany, who replaced Thomas Tuchel as Bayern’s new head coach in May last year, believes his side are showing the hunger and reaction to win trophies this term.

“I am happy with our performance and the mentality of the team,” Kompany said. “We defended aggressively and played a good game. We must keep it up.

“We are showing in every game that we are hungry and showing a reaction after last season. We have to keep at it.”

Bayern have now won their last three Bundesliga games following a defeat to Mainz in December, their first of the 2024-25 campaign.

Kompany’s side have impressed for most of the season. They have scored more goals (53) than any team in the Bundesliga, while also conceding a league-low (13).

Since a 0-1 defeat at Hansa Rostock in December 2001, Bayern are unbeaten in their last 23 Bundesliga games to close the first half of the season (won 17, drawn six).

Kompany’s side finished the first half of the season at the summit of the standings for the 27th time in German top-flight history.

In 23 of the first 26 instances, they have gone on to be crowned champions, including the last nine times in a row. The last time they surrendered such a lead was to Borussia Dortmund in the 2011-12 season.

“We approached this game with a lot of respect for the opponents,” Kompany added on Bayern’s victory over Hoffenheim.

“For us, it was not that we thought it would be easy, but we have a lot of good players, and today we showed joy for the game.”