FC Bayern are once again eliminated early from the DFB Cup. This means that the first title under Vincent Kompany is lost. The pressure on the coach and the team is increasing. Midfield boss Joshua Kimmich chooses clear words – and contradicts the club bosses.
On Wednesday morning things were quite quiet at the FC Bayern training grounds on Säbener Straße. Coach Vincent Kompany’s team was given a day off from training for the day after another disappointment in the DFB Cup. Recover, process and gather strength – the pressure on the coach and the players has increased after the 0-1 defeat in the round of 16 against Bayer Leverkusen.
After around three months of the 2024/2025 season, one thing is clear for the German record champions: the triple won’t happen again. The first title of the season is playful. The Munich team didn’t play badly against Leverkusen and defended themselves when they were outnumbered. The relatively early red card for goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in the 17th minute changed the game significantly. Nevertheless: Given the demands of the world club, the elimination in the round of the last 16 teams comes far too early.
During the triple triumph in 2020 with coach Hansi Flick, the record winner celebrated his last cup victory to date in Berlin. The 0-1 defeat against defending champion Bayer was the fifth early exit since winning the title for the 20th time. Like his predecessor Thomas Tuchel, Kompany hasn’t made it far in the competition so far. It is the club’s biggest cup crisis in 27 years.
Max Eberl was correspondingly thin-skinned. In his frustration, the sports director again verbally attacked a reporter late on Tuesday evening. When the 51-year-old was asked about Munich’s poor season record against top opponents after the 1-0 defeat, he snapped back: “I know that you are very critical. I know you question everything. I don’t really give a shit.”
In conversation with journalists, Eberl refused to classify the defeat against Leverkusen with the poor results that his Bayern had in games in the Champions League against FC Barcelona (1:4) or in the Bundesliga at home against Leverkusen (1:1). or away against Eintracht Frankfurt (3:3). Munich’s meager record against top opponents so far this season: one win, three draws, three defeats.
“Today it is not a question of defeating bigger opponents,” said Eberl. “We are one man less. I hope this resonates with everyone too. Even if you didn’t see it on the pitch, we played with one less man. That’s why this game is out of all the other statistics.”
In the most recent 1-0 win against Paris St. Germain, the Munich team also benefited from the majority after a yellow-red card for PSG professional Ousmane Dembélé and then celebrated the top game victory. After the cup exit, the German championship title is now virtually mandatory for Bayern. And they should go far in the premier class, where they are currently 13th in the table.
Honorary President Uli Hoeneß said at the end of November: “What I can promise is the German championship. We are in a wonderful position at this point in time. We are league leaders. And our only real competitors, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig, are far behind us.” Bayern are first in the table, but Eintracht Frankfurt are only four points behind in second. Hoeneß’s title promise, now the cup exit – Kompany’s team has to deliver.
“Then of course it’s sobering”
After the defeat, Joshua Kimmich assessed his previous season’s record against strong opponents differently than his club’s bosses. When asked whether the record against top opponents was not enough, the midfield boss said: “That is absolutely true in the season so far. What have been the big games so far? Leverkusen twice, we couldn’t win one and we were actually lucky to get Leverkusen at home. At the end of the day we can’t move forward. We didn’t win Dortmund, we didn’t win Frankfurt, we didn’t win Barcelona. When you see the results, it’s obviously sobering.”
Sports director Christoph Freund assessed the situation more positively: “From the results you can see it that way, yes. But the way we perform and play makes me really positive and convinced that we will win big games because we are on a really good path and radiate really good energy.”
Saturday (3:30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker) Bayern will host 1. FC Heidenheim in the Bundesliga. FC Shakhtar Donetsk are their next opponents in the Champions League next Tuesday; due to the war in Ukraine, the game will be played in Gelsenkirchen.
Kimmich also has a completely different opinion than sports director Eberl about the red card against Neuer. “It wasn’t a sticking point at all, not even an excuse at all,” said the captain of the national team: “I think if someone was looking from the outside and didn’t see the game, you might think that the red card was a sticking point. I don’t think we could have been much better or more dominant with eleven men.”
Kimmich sent a clear message to his team. “I’ll be honest: Before the game, I thought a little bit, especially when I saw the second half against Paris, the first half in Dortmund, that maybe we’re at a point where we’re slacking off a bit, where we’re not Do more 100 percent of what we did at the beginning of the season.”
Bayern want to extend the 29-year-old’s contract, which ends on June 30, 2025, and Kimmich should become the Bayern captain of the future. He is already a leader who speaks plainly. When he now analyzes the performance against Leverkusen, he has to say: “That was one of our best performances – of course also compared to the opponent. I do hope that this spurs us on. Of course it annoys me extremely that the title is gone. That’s what we all play football for – to win. And it’s all about winning.”
His coach Kompany hopes that the injured superstar striker Harry Kane will be ready for action again soon. And has decided to build up the team. “It’s bitter for us,” says the Belgian about the cup exit. “I won’t sugarcoat it either, but my role is very simple: just go full throttle, bring up this energy, this motivation. If the energy remains, then we will gain a lot in the future. Unfortunately not the cup this year. But this team can just keep growing. And then we get our moments.”
The club’s annual general meeting will take place on Sunday morning in Munich. The club management around CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen will probably announce record sales of over 900 million euros. And hopes that a win against Heidenheim has brightened the mood until then.
Julien Wolff is a football editor. He has been reporting from Munich since 2011 about FC Bayernalso about the Bundesliga and the national team.
