Bayern Munich -Baas Vincent Kompany has warned his players that the record of Holstein Kiel against the top teams makes them dangerous Bundesliga opponents on Saturday.
Due to relegation, Kiel has only three victories of top flight this season, while hosts Bayern have 48 points of 19 games and six points are clearly at the top of the rankings, so the game will go in the game as big favorites.
Bayern has scored the most goals and admitted the least in the competition, while Kiel struggle is 17th in the table with 12 points, which have already admitted 48 goals.
However, Kiel claimed a 4-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund this month.
They also held champions Bayer Leverkusen against a 2-2 draw in October and last week went 2-2 with the seventh-placed Wolfsburg, so Kompany has seen enough in those matches to adopt a cautious mindset that went into the game.
“It is good to hear that we have the best attack and defense – that shows that we do our work, it is always about mentality,” Kompany told reporters on Friday.
“Holstein Kiel is my priority. See what Kiel did against Dortmund, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg. That is a feeling that they can bring to us.
“We make no distinction between opponents; I just want to go into play with hunger.”
If Bayern can record a sixth consecutive competition gain, this will be their outright best series of the season. They were the same as their joint best run of the Bundesliga campaign last week with a narrow 2-1 victory in Freiburg.
“The boys who played in the last game must all be available. Hopefully we will also get a few players back next week. “#Fcbayern #miasanmia #fcbksv pic.twitter.com/sjpcwe6wdk
– FC Bayern (@fcbayernen) 31 January 2025
This will be a milestone match for striker Harry Kane, who is ready to make his 50th Bundesliga appearance.
Even if he does not score against Kiel, England's striker will still hold the record for most goals by a player in their first 50 games, because he already has 53 strikes to his name in the competition.
Kane has gathered seven Bundesliga-Hattricks since he had moved to Germany, one of which came against Holstein Kiel in a 6-1 way during the reverse match. In September game, Jamal Musiala also saw the goal of the club of the club Bundesliga after just 14 seconds.
Kompany also weighed the decision of the German Football League (DFL) to launch a pilot project in which referees will explain VAR decisions to fans in the stadium through speakers from Saturday.
He said: “It is an innovation when it comes to communication in the stadium. We have seen it in other sports. I am always for innovation, so let's see how things are going.
“Compared to other competitions, the Bundesliga has less and shorter VAR stop settings. It often takes longer in other competitions.” We have to see what is happening now, but I welcome the general idea to look for more transparency. “
Bayern, who did not end in the top eight in the Champions League group phase and missed the Automatic Last-16 qualification, was set to teach their next opponents in the competition shortly after Kompany spoke.
They were eventually attracted to the Scottish side Celtic, avoiding a collision with Premier League champions Manchester City, for whom Kompany played 360 games and won four competition titles.
Speaking prior to the draw, Kompany said: “I have no favorite for whom we play. We have two games. It is very important that we build up excitement and energy for these games.
“Of course we wanted to finish in the top eight. But Real Madrid, City, Juventus, AC Milan and many other large clubs did not make it either. It is simply important to build that energy for those games.”
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