In Bundesliga Matchday 12 of the 2025-26 season, Bayern Munich will host St. Pauli at home. Ahead of the game, Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany attended a press conference and talked about the team’s current situation.
On the defeat to Arsenal
“Rewatching the game has been helpful for us. I think after the match, we quickly move on to the next one, but we can’t fail to learn from it. In the first hour of the game, we performed steadily and held our own against them away in London. However, in the final 30 minutes, we didn’t reach the required level, while Arsenal played better and ultimately won. The problem wasn’t the entire 90 minutes, but the last 30.”
On the team’s injury situation
“The final training session will determine who can play. Currently, we have no injury concerns; we’re just focusing on some minor details and hoping everyone can play at 100% tomorrow.”
On the team’s potential response
“It’s good to be able to showcase our plan three days later. We never want to lose – we can’t accept it and don’t like it. But at this stage of the season, what’s important is to respond to the defeat to Arsenal and prepare for the upcoming game against St. Pauli. We must be ready for these crucial moments to ensure we get the win.”
On set-piece tactics
“Of course, we will learn from all situations. I hope we can attack aggressively and score more goals, but we also train for box defense and set pieces. There’s not much more we can do on the pitch because our training time is limited, but we still try to integrate these elements into our sessions.”
“Therefore, we need to conduct a lot of video analysis – and we have to get through this phase before putting together a series of consistent performances. This isn’t something we can just hope for – we have to face it and respond. Right now, it’s a normal topic – it will remain until we solve it.”
On being the “World Champion Killer”
“I’ve never heard of that term before. I think every win against Bayern is a victory – and we will never give away any wins easily.”
Further on set pieces
“Our set pieces have been solid over the past 18 months. Now we’re in a phase – I hope we can find the right solution, keep improving, and make set pieces one of our biggest strengths. When the ball comes in and there’s chaos, you have to get up and clear it with a header. I don’t want everyone to question everything; this is just the current situation, and it’s normal to discuss it – but we will resolve it and move on.”
On Neuer, Ulreich, and whether Neuer made a mistake on Martinelli’s goal
“What mistake? I have a different view – as a goalkeeper, do you wait until the opponent is through on goal? Or should you come out to help your teammates and support them? I’m a bit surprised – this is the first time I’ve heard this considered a mistake. We always consult Neuer when we decide to change goalkeepers. We didn’t do that this time; I have to consider what’s best for the team. We also hope Ulreich can progress – but the timing needs to be discussed calmly, and we haven’t done that yet. I’m only focused on the game against St. Pauli.”
On Upamecano
“We can’t demand too much from him. If there are issues, we can’t say he shouldn’t have done this, such as in the high press. In post-match analysis, we can point out where we can do better to learn from it. Of course, we lost the game, and we have to draw lessons to keep improving. I’m sure he will use this experience to grow – that’s normal.”
On St. Pauli
“I think the most important thing for us is not to distinguish between Arsenal and St. Pauli in our preparations. Obviously, we’re playing at home instead of away, but when we analyze St. Pauli, we also see their strengths. The last two games against them were very tough; they fought until the end. We’re well aware of that, and we know this won’t be an easy game – even though they’ve lost eight matches. For St. Pauli, playing against Bayern might be different – when you’re at the bottom of the table, there’s less pressure in such games. That could be a positive for St. Pauli.”
