Bayern Munich chases a seventh Champions League with Vincent Kompany after rediscovering its footballing identity

There is one statistic that sums up pretty well what Bayern Munich means in its own country: of the 62 German league seasons played since the Bundesliga was founded, the Bavarian club has won 34, including 12 of the last 13. Take Bayern out of the equation and everything else would be tied at the top, with just 5 titles apiece for Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach. So yes, Bayern plays a different tournament altogether. And this year, once again, it is chasing something bigger than the league: the club's seventh Champions League title, the first since that strange 2020 final, played in the middle of the pandemic, when Bayern beat PSG.

For that goal, Bayern has a coach who, according to the club's own website back in August, after he was named Germany's Coach of the Year, "fits perfectly with Bayern's DNA." It sounds like something out of a PR handbook, but it is worth looking at what is behind it. The piece described Vincent Kompany as someone who "listens first and leads second," with "a clear mentality and great empathy," with "answers for every game plan," and with the ability to give "stability and balance" to a squad packed with stars. It also recalled his stand against racism, which "left a mark far beyond the club." The closing line read almost like a declaration of affection: for Bayern, Kompany is someone who "still has a lot ahead of him."

The numbers back up the story. In his two seasons in charge, Kompany won both league titles he competed for, with just three defeats across both campaigns. But what is really interesting is something else: the bond he built with the club, something his immediate predecessors never managed despite winning trophies of their own.

From Guardiola's player to a disciple with his own identity

Kompany never played for Bayern. He spent time in German football between 2006 and 2009 with Hamburg, and later enjoyed the best years of his playing career at Manchester City, where he stayed for 11 years and won 12 trophies, four of them Premier League titles, before retiring in 2020 at Anderlecht, the club where he had come up as a youth player. In his final three seasons as a player, he crossed paths with Pep Guardiola, and that relationship proved key to everything that came after.

When I met him, everything changed. He was the one who gave me the confidence that I could become a coach.Vincent Kompany

Later on, once he had stepped out of his mentor's direct shadow, the Belgian qualified that admiration: "He's the most special coach of his generation, but it would be a big mistake not to forge my own path." And that is exactly what he did, searching for his own voice as a coach, first at Anderlecht, then at Burnley.

It was actually at Burnley, with the club freshly relegated from the Premier League to the Championship, where Bayern's sporting director Max Eberl first set his sights on him in 2024, when the club was looking to replace Thomas Tuchel. It was not an easy sell inside the club.

We had already talked to other coaches and Kompany was already on our list, but I didn't dare bring him up right away. At first there were doubts and some surprise when I floated his name. And when we hesitated, I told Kalle: "You're pretty close to Pep, aren't you? Call him and ask him about Kompany." That was the turning point.Max Eberl

Restoring an identity, not just winning

When Guardiola arrived at Bayern in 2013 to succeed Jupp Heynckes, he found a team that was physically powerful but played in a fairly direct style. The club's leadership wanted something else: for him to bring his Barcelona ideas to Bayern. He pulled it off, though he was never able to win the Champions League with that team.

Since his departure in 2016, Bayern kept winning Bundesliga titles almost by momentum, including the European conquest of 2020 under Hansi Flick (now at Barcelona). But when Tuchel's cycle came to an end, what the club was looking for was not another domestic title, but the return of a clear footballing identity. That is where Kompany fit in.

With Manuel Neuer as captain, Joshua Kimmich as a key defensive piece, and an attack featuring Harry Kane, Luis Díaz and Leroy Sané, Bayern is once again showing a recognizable style, something that has not gone unnoticed elsewhere: this year Manchester City considered him as a possible replacement for Guardiola himself. Eberl was blunt about the possibility: "Let them try if they want. He's under contract until 2029."