Bayern coach Kompany compares Leverkusen duel with City-Liverpool rivalry

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany on Friday compared his side’s current duel with Bayer Leverkusen to the Manchester City-Liverpool Premier League battles of his playing days.

Bayern travel to defending champions Leverkusen on Saturday eight points clear in the Bundesliga and on track to regain the league title. 

Bayern have however not beaten Leverkusen in their past five matches since Xabi Alonso’s appointment as coach in October 2022. 

Earlier this season, Leverkusen beat 10-man Bayern 1-0 in Munich to knock them out of the German Cup.

Kompany, who captained Pep Guardiola’s City as they battled with Liverpool for supremacy in the Premier League, said he saw parallels in the quality and the consistency of the two German clubs.

Twice in four seasons, both City and Liverpool finished with more than 90 points in a 38-game programme, with Kompany’s side winning the league title by a point on both occasions. 

“In England there was always Arsenal-United, then City-United, then City-Liverpool. When you look at the Bundesliga, this current Leverkusen side look set to always get more than 80 points (in a 34-game season) and be not far away from 90 points.

“It means Bayern always needs to be consistently good to stay ahead. It shows how well they are doing. 

“You can’t forget that they’ve only lost once (in the league) in 18 months. And we’d love to become the next team to beat them in their stadium tomorrow.”

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl pointed to his side’s eight-point lead, calling the Bundesliga “the most honest title you can win… it’s not about one or two games, it’s about the whole season.

“We’ve kept the defending German champions in check across the season. Leverkusen need the win more than us, but that doesn’t mean we’ll sit there waiting — we want to win this game.”