Borussia Dortmund suffered a massive setback in being eliminated from the Champions League by Atalanta earlier this week and Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany knows that BVB will be focused on trying to stay alive in the Bundesliga.
A loss to Bayern Munich would put Borussia Dortmund 11 points behind the Bavarians and likely ice the competition in favor of Bayern Munich.
“I expect Dortmund to put on the pressure and keep the game wide open with lots of energy – they’re capable of that, they have
the ability to really push. But whether that will decide the game tomorrow, I don’t know. From our perspective, things are clearer: we will definitely give it our all, I can say that right now. Everything else depends on the opponent. Whether they sit back defensively or push forward – we know what our priorities will be. We’re playing against a top team, it won’t be easy for us,” Kompany said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “It’s a Klassiker. It has its importance; in the moments of top matches, we should make it as big as it is. I think that’s good. It’s important for the Bundesliga that we have a top match tomorrow – both teams shouldn’t be afraid. I us to say we want to beat Dortmund. And Dortmund should think similarly; that’s what makes it so important, that’s how it should be.”
Kompany understands that there could be big reaction from BVB after being eliminated from the Champions League, but how a team responds is always tough to gauge after such a disappointment.
“It was a setback. You can never know how they will react to that. Mentally, it always has an effect; it can go either way. What we can control is how we start the game. We had healthy energy in training, which I love; we had a very good week. We did everything right in training – now we want to continue like that in the game tomorrow,” Kompany said.
Kompany, though, has his own problems to deal with aside of planning to face Borussia Dortmund. Michael Olise, Aleksandar Pavlović, Kim Min-jae, Hiroki Itō, Manuel Neuer, Konrad Laimer, and Alphonso Davies are all dealing with one ailment or another. For Kompany, it is all about staying patient.
“We have a medical meeting after this press conference. I’ll get the last information about the players. At the moment things are looking good. Maybe not everyone will be able to start against Dortmund. But we have the opportunity to line up with a very strong team. I’ll get the final details in the next half hour at our medical meeting,” Kompany said. “Konny (Laimer) has been training all week. And Phonzy (Davies) has been running; he’s also doing well, he’ll be there for the important month of March. We’ll see next week.
“Things are looking good for Manu (Neuer). We thought he’d be out for longer. He might train with us today. Then we’ll have to see. I want to talk to him again. Otherwise, Jonas Urbig will play. He did well.”
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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