Kompany eyeing first win against Leverkusen
Vincent Kompany hopes it will be fourth time lucky as he seeks to lead Bayern Munich to its first win over Bayer Leverkusen since he took over as head coach at the club.
Bayern welcomes the defending Bundesliga champion to Allianz Arena for the first leg of their Round of 16 tie in the UEFA Champions League this week.
But it has been Xabi Alonso who has had the better of this fixture since joining Leverkusen as its head coach in October 2022.
Indeed, under the Spaniard, Leverkusen is unbeaten in its six matches against Bayern across all competitions, winning three and drawing the rest of those games.
It has also kept a clean sheet in three of its past four against Bayern, after not keeping any in its previous 15 games against that opponent, conceding 42 goals.
Kompany said his team's chance of victory would ride on the small details between two strong sides, having drawn twice with Leverkusen and losing in the DFB-Pokal already this season.
"Neither I nor Xabi Alonso can influence the ball. Both teams have a lot of individual qualities that will influence the game," Kompany said.
"You can plan as much as you want for these games, but it is then the players who will have to do it.
"Each of the three games were different stories. But all of them were played at the very limit."
The previous meeting between the two sides came in February, with Bayern able to hold on for a 0-0 draw, having been completely dominated by Alonso's team.
But it is Kompany's side that holds the advantage in the Bundesliga standings, holding an eight-point lead over second-placed Leverkusen with 10 games remaining of the season.
"We don't go into the game to do a bit less this week and a bit more next week," Kompany said of the two-legged UEFA Champions League tie.
"We hope as a team to have solutions for the qualities of Leverkusen and tomorrow, not only as a team but also individually, to deliver the best performance.
"[The two legs] definitely play a role. We know it is not about all or nothing tomorrow.
"There are two matches but still we play at home and that means sometimes something special can happen."
This will be the first meeting between Bayern and Leverkusen in a major European competition.
The 33-time Bundesliga champion won its most recent match against German opposition in the UEFA Champions League, beating Borussia Dortmund in the 2012-2013 final.
