Driving his team on during public training: Vincent Kompany.
IMAGO/Lackovic

You have to go back 40 years to find the last game Bayern lost before the end of the year. That was in December 1984, with a 3-2 defeat in Mönchengladbach, the German record champions went into the Christmas break with at least one point each time.

Of course it doesn’t help to sit at the Christmas tree in a happy mood this year, but it should at least be a little bit of encouragement for Vincent Kompany and Co. After all, the pressure increased again immediately after the 2-1 defeat in Mainz and the once comfortable lead at the top shrank to four points.

Motivation only increases once you lose it

“The motivation only increases when you lose once,” assures coach Kompany. “I basically don’t care what the situation is, I just always want to win. If that’s a nice ending, then so be it.”

The situation is not entirely new, after all Bayern were allowed or had to come back three times this season after a defeat. “We showed a good reaction every time,” says sports director Max Eberl (almost) rightly. The 0-1 draw in Birmingham was followed by a good performance in Frankfurt, but only a 3-3 draw. After the 1:4 in Barcelona, ​​FCB dismantled a hopelessly inferior VfL Bochum 5:0. And after the cup exit against Leverkusen (0:1), the league leaders beat Heidenheim 4:2.

Kane and Davies return – as does Gnabry

Either way, Eberl thinks he can celebrate Christmas happily regardless of the outcome on Friday. “We’re definitely going into the winter break first, that’s a very good starting position.” It should be clear right away that the lead over Leverkusen could shrink to a narrow point if they lose to RB and then there would definitely not be a conciliatory mood.

The coach is definitely confident. “If things go as they did yesterday in training on Friday, we have good conditions.” Harry Kane and Alphonso Davies are returning, and Serge Gnabry is also an option for the squad after knee problems. And in general, Kompany is looking forward to a whole week of training without any Champions League or DFB Cup football in between. “That was very important for us, very positive,” he says. The game should be too, to be on the safe side.