Vincent Kompany Lauds Bayern Munich’s Remarkable Mentality in Comeback Victory

Vincent Kompany, the new head coach of Bayern Munich, commended his team's strong mentality as they fought back from a deficit to secure a win against Wolfsburg in their Bundesliga season opener on August 25th.

An 82nd-minute goal by Serge Gnabry secured the record German champions a 3-2 win at Wolfsburg and handed Kompany, who replaced Thomas Tuchel after their disappointing third-placed finish last season, a winning start in the Bundesliga.

Bayern took the lead thanks to Jamal Musiala’s 19th-minute goal but started the second half in shocking fashion as they gave away a penalty seconds after the restart and made a defensive error which put the hosts ahead.

However, Gnabry and Harry Kane linked up to grab a late winner and seal all three points for Bayern.

“I enjoyed it, it was my first Bundesliga game as a coach,” Kompany, the former Burnley manager, said.

“The first half was dominant, as it should be. We didn’t concede any chances. The second half wasn’t good at the beginning, we conceded two quick goals. The third point is that our mentality was right at the end, and that’s why we won the game.

“Mistakes happen, the important thing is how the team reacts. That took a while in the second half. Thomas Mueller and Kingsley Coman came in with the right mentality and the tempo came back.

“At the end of the second half, we had a lot of courage to win the game. I played football long enough and know that you can lose or draw such a game. The fact we won shows that the mentality was there, even though not everything was perfect... but we’ll keep going.”

Joshua Kimmich said Bayern’s reaction was good in the second half.

“It was extremely difficult, the pitch was very dry, so the game stalled at times. Perhaps it wasn’t always presentable. But, in the end, I’m happy that we won it. The mentality was right,” the German international said.

England striker and captain Kane, who had a hand in each of the visitors’ three goals, added on Bayern TV: “It’s not perfect yet. We’re still obviously implementing some of the ideas of the coach. Obviously, the team is a lot stronger than this. I’m happy we’ve got a good week to work now, to get to work on the ideas the coach wants.” AFP