Bayern Munich are “always the favourites”, says manager Vincent Kompany as they come up against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Bayern had won the league title 11 years in a row until last season when Xabi Alonso’s side became the first team to finish a Bundesliga campaign unbeaten.
This season Bayern have won all six of their matches in all competitions under Kompany and sit top of the standings, having scored 20 goals in their last three games. Leverkusen are second going into the 17:30 BST kick-off.
“It’s good that everyone’s excited about the game. Obviously it’ll be an important game, against the best team from the last 12 months. We’re looking forward to the game. It won’t be easy,” Kompany said.
“We want to test ourselves against a good opponent at the Allianz Arena. Bayern are always the favourites.
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“We’re looking forward to playing against the champions and want to win. The next game is what counts in football. If you’ve performed well, you need to keep going.
“We’ve scored 20 goals in the last three games, but it’s my job to show what we can do better. Anything is possible in a game like against Leverkusen. We’ll prepare the team to perform to their max on Saturday. Then we move on.”
In their 5-0 win over Werder Bremen last week, Bayern did not allow their opponents to record a single shot on target.
Kompany hailed the team’s collective defensive effort, adding: “We didn’t allow a single chance against Bremen. That’s not just down to the defence.
“We need to do everything as a team. We’ve done that very well in the last few games. I have a lot of trust in the squad.”
‘Bayern will go full throttle’
Alonso says his side are ready for the challenge and are prepared for a stern examination. Leverkusen drew 2-2 in Munich last season with Exequiel Palacios scoring a last-minute equaliser from the penalty spot.
“We need a perfect performance to take something home with us,” Alonso said.
“FC Bayern have made a good start to the season, it will be a challenge . We need to play at our highest level, with and against the ball for 90 minutes. Bayern will go full throttle, we have to be ready for that.
“The team has to be compact, we have to defend together as a team. We have a clear game plan, we can’t be too soft and we can’t allow large gaps.”
