Just minutes after the final whistle of Bayern’s friendly against Grasshoppers, Max Eberl appeared in front of journalists. The board member for sport spoke of his optimism after the team had put in another convincing display in their final warm-up match before the start of the new Bundesliga campaign. “We’ve shown some decent performances in pre-season. Now we want to win every game,” he stated.
Confidence is what Eberl wants going into Sunday’s opening game in Wolfsburg. That sense of ‘Mia san mia’ should again be the foundation on which the coaches and the players build. They’re expressing that feeling as one. Mathys Tel, who curled in the third against Grasshoppers, also has a great belief in success: “We’re going into the game with confidence.”
Pre-season momentum
After last season’s disappointing campaign, Bayern go into their first league game in high spirits. It’s exactly 99 days between the 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim on the final day of last term and Sunday’s fixture in Wolfsburg. A lot has happened at the club in that time. A number of new signings, a new coach and a new style of play – there’s a fresh wind blowing, and it’s given the team a boost to attack again after a title-less season.
The Bavarians have laid the foundations for that during pre-season, putting in a lot of hard work. Our boys worked up a sweat in intensive training sessions, toiling away at Säbener Straße, at Tegernsee and in South Korea. The first reward for their hard work came in the friendly matches and in the DFB Cup first round, picking up six wins from seven games. Eberl spoke of a “positive set of matches” after the Grasshoppers game. The fans were impressed by the hard tackling, intense pressing and courageous attacking play. ‘Kompany ball’ is fuelling hopes for a successful season.
Good starters
The stats also offer encouragement going into Matchday 1. Bayern are unbeaten on opening weekend in the Bundesliga in the last 12 years, which is a feat only two other teams have achieved (Duisburg up to 1994 and VfB Stuttgart up to 1977) and is the division record. The Bavarians have also enjoyed a number of high-scoring wins in their first Bundesliga fixture in recent years, such as a 5-0 victory over Hamburg in 2015 and 6-0 over Werder Bremen the following year. And then there was the 8-0 thrashing of Schalke in 2020, which remains the biggest opening win by a champion in Bundesliga history.
Two previous openers with Wolfsburg
Bayern have also enjoyed facing Wolfsburg first up in the recent past, winning 2-1 at home on Matchday 1 in 2010 and 2014. Thomas Müller opened the scoring early on in the former before Bastian Schweinsteiger’s added-time winner either side of an Edin Dzeko equaliser. Four years later, Müller again repeated the feat before Arjen Robben doubled the advantage at the Allianz Arena. Ivica Olic only managed a consolation for the Wolves.
Can Vincent Kompany’s side now make it three wins from three against Wolfsburg on Matchday 1? You can certainly see the confidence in the team to do the job. “We’re ready for Sunday,” Tel affirmed after Tuesday's friendly. Eberl also insisted, “We’ll be well prepared.” Now’s the time to prove it.
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