Bundesliga
Bayern hoping to bounce back against Leipzig
After their defeat against Mainz on Matchday 14, Bayern Munich are up against RB Leipzig next in their final home game of the year. Head coach Vincent Kompany is determined for his team to go into the winter break with a win and will expect nothing less than a fully-focused performance at maximum intensity from his side.
The 2-1 defeat against Mainz was the record champions’ first Bundesliga defeat of the season. Despite a better xG (1.36 to Mainz’s 1.06), 66 per cent possession, and more than double the number of passes played (629 to Mainz’s 294), the Munich side lost 2-1 at The 05ers.
Thomas Müller confessed his team lacked their usual killer instinct in attack, saying, “We failed to hit the target too often inside the box. In the end, it’s about scoring goals.” Leroy Sané breathed some life back into his side after he got a goal back in the 87th minute, but that proved to be too little, too late. The German international’s strike came from Bayern’s only shot on target in the entire match.
As a result, director of sport Max Eberl conceded after the game, “In the end, you have to say that Mainz deserved it. We can’t deny that we wanted it today. But we didn’t do well in terms of our play.” Joshua Kimmich was just as dissatisfied with his team’s performance, citing the first half as a weak point, in which, according to the 29-year-old, Bayern failed to “calm the game down, to take emotions out of it and to take control of the match.”
Bayern’s head coach also had no choice but to congratulate Mainz on their home win, but, rather than dwelling on the defeat, he had his gaze fixed firmly on the next fixture after the final whistle. The Belgian explained,“We’ll use this defeat to motivate us over the next few days before the Leipzig game on Friday.”
Watch: Mainz 2-1 Bayern Munich - highlights
Despite a bitter defeat in Mainz, Bayern are continuing to look ahead. Victory against Leipzig in their last home game of the year will ensure that they go into the winter break on a high. Eberl said, “Now, we have to pick ourselves back up and get three points on Friday against Leipzig.”
However, as has been seen in previous encounters between the two sides, victory against RB Leipzig, who are currently in fourth place in the Bundesliga, is never something to be taken for granted. Kimmich is well aware of this and his post-match words in Mainz were akin to a rallying call. “Every player has to make sure that we go into Friday at our absolute highest level. Leipzig must face us at our best.”
Perhaps the record champions need the pressure that comes with playing against a top team if they are to succeed at this top level. Despite their defeat in the last 16 of the DFB Cup, they dominated double-winners Bayer Leverkusen for large portions of the match, with only 10 men on the pitch for most of the game, yet they lacked precision with even the simplest of passes against Mainz. Whether or not Bayern have recovered from their defeat will all become clear on Friday evening at the Allianz Arena (kick-off 8:30pm CET).