MUNICH — The concept of a single standalone fixture — das Eröffnungsspiel — to usher in the new Bundesliga season after the long summer hiatus is a relatively new one, dating back only to 2002.
This showpiece Friday night event always features the defending champions and often takes place on their own pitch. However, in recent years, we have seen deviations with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively, traveling to Borussia Mönchengladbach (2021 and 2024) and Bayern going to Eintracht Frankfurt (2022) and Werder Bremen (2023).
To kick off the 2025-26 season, Germany’s Rekordmeister enjoys the initial home advantage in a potential tester against RB Leipzig. Not since 2020 and the days of lockdown and an 8-0 drubbing of Schalke 04 has the Allianz Arena played host to the ceremonial opening, and it will be an occasion of grandeur before 75,000 mixed with Bavarian Weißwurst (traditional sausage), beer and bonhomie.
The Bayern players this week were photographed in their traditional Oktoberfest attire ahead of the big forthcoming early autumn Wiesn festival that dominates the city. They already have the Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup in their possession after a deserved 2-1 win over Pokalsieger VfB Stuttgart on Saturday night.
Yet amid the smiles and good vibes here in the Bavarian capital, there is considerable daily pressure, and not just on the playing squad. For the second-year coach Vincent Kompany and sporting CEO Max Eberl, this feels especially true.
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It’s no secret that Kompany, after relegation from the Premier League with Burnley, was far from first choice to succeed Thomas Tuchel 12 months ago, but the Belgian impressed Eberl and others with his football vision, articulate and personable manner, and, of course, fluent German language skills.
Last season can be described as a qualified success. Bayern won the Bundesliga by 13 points, having surrendered the crown to Leverkusen the season before. Ninety-nine league goals made it the third-best season in club history on that front.
The negatives were another early exit from the DFB-Pokal, a cup Bayern last lifted in 2020, and the painful UEFA Champions League quarterfinal dismissal at the hands of Inter Milan.
Both can be described as unlucky, although Kompany will be expected to win the Meisterschale (Bundesliga trophy) and more this season. The supervisory board will be less forgiving one year on. A big positive was the style of football that most would agree is passend (fitting) with what the Bayern public enjoys in a way that Tuchel’s football simply wasn’t.
Possession play allied to a high and bold early press has been the Kompany recipe, even though it didn’t always go to plan. For example: early in the season against Barcelona in the Champions League and Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
Bayern can get into trouble when the defensive Kette (literal chain) becomes disconnected, resulting in rescue acts out of necessity, frequently by Manuel Neuer. This brings us to Eberl, who gets talked about more vigorously among football fans here in Munich much more than whether Kompany is a good coach for Bayern.
The fact is, being the Sportvorstand (sporting CEO at Bayern) carries with it an immense responsibility to constantly construct long-term plans while knowing that the wrong moves in the short term can cost you your job.
Eberl also has to work under the shadow of the Tegernsee: in other words, honorary president Uli Hoeneß, who always has an opinion when asked about pretty much any topic under the sun. A license to work away in peace hasn’t been a luxury afforded to Eberl since his move from Leipzig 18 months ago, nor will he expect to acquire it anytime soon.
Last winter, Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund made extending the contracts of key players like Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala the priority. But the handling of Thomas Müller’s departure looked clumsy.
This summer, long-time attackers Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman have left the club. Sané’s contract had been allowed to run down, while Coman’s move to Al Nassr brought in €24 million.
Bayern’s outlay of €75 million, including extras for the signing of 28-year-old Luis Díaz from Liverpool, has not met every fan’s approval. Yes, the Colombian is a splendid footballer and marked his first official appearance in the Super Cup with a goal.
But as with Harry Kane, we’re not talking about players here contributing to a sustainable transfer strategy. They are for the attacking here and now, and there are question marks about its composition at least in the short term, with playmaker Musiala set to miss a big chunk of the Hinrunde, the first part of the season.
Who is going to fill the Musiala hole? Against Stuttgart, it was mostly Serge Gnabry, with the often irresistible Michael Olise dropping in there from time to time. I must admit I would have liked to see 25 competitive minutes from 17-year-old Lennart Karl on Saturday. He’s small, left-footed, represented by Michael Ballack, and while not a direct like-for-like Musiala replacement, surely represents the future for Bayern.
Instead, Karl was handed only the briefest of cameos in Stuttgart and this brings us nicely to the theme of the Bayern Campus, as they call it, and Kompany’s attitude to bringing in youth. At last week’s pre-match news conference, Kompany addressed the thorny subject, acknowledging the importance, but adding the caveat that we in the media might have to be patient.
Of course, every coach has to be mindful of self-preservation and his pragmatic need for results. Others can worry about long haul plans that he may never be part of. Eberl and the Bayern decision-makers are attracted by the idea of bringing in Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku for the Musiala position. Hoeneß favors a loan, whereas Eberl feels a permanent signing. The supervisory board meets on Monday, and Eberl’s work will certainly be critiqued.
In other positions, I feel the addition of Jonathan Tah, arguably the best Bundesliga defender over the past couple of seasons, will add solidity to Bayern. Plus, the talented Aleksandar Pavlović is back after suffering a fractured eye socket. Kane’s statement this week that the current Bayern squad is the smallest he has ever been part of as a top-level professional was not meant to attract controversy but is rather a statement of fact.
In the first few matches, with these thin options, does Kompany have the right formula without Musiala in the creative department? The 19-year-old attacking midfielder Paul Wanner is no longer an alternative since he has been transferred to PSV, while Raphaël Guerreiro looks like an ill-fitting No. 10 option at this stage of his career.
Against Leipzig, we’ll learn more.
