Kompany's keys to victory: “Mentality, Müller, and the München traveling support.”

Vincent Kompany’s Bundesliga debut could accurately be described as a rocky affair. The German record champions were made to work exceptionally hard indeed at the Volkswagen Arena on Sunday afternoon in order to dig out a 3-2 victory. Particularly troubling was the fact that a blitz brace from Vaclav Cerny shortly after the restart put the Bavarians in serious danger of dropping their opening fixture on a weekend in which title rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund both won.

“One loses the momentum when one concedes after 20 seconds,” Kompany said of the start to the second half, “But we could have drawn or lost the game. In the end, we won. That shows our mentality.  In the end, we won because our mentality was right. The team reacted even if it took a little bit of extra time.” 

Joshua Kimmich and game-winning goal-scorer Serge Gnabry also conducted post-match interviews. Kimmich declared himself pleased with the first half, highly frustrated with the “mistakes” that led Wolfsburg back into the game, and generally satisfied with the “reaction after the 1-2”. 

“Obviously, that knocked our socks off,” Gnabry said of the start to the second half, “Then Wolfsburg grabbed the 1-2 and the house was on fire. In the end, we rewarded ourselves with a good performance with a 3-2 win. That’s good for morale and we’ll take that with us.” 

Kompany reserved some extra praise for Thomas Müller; ever the “mentality monster” irrespective of which Bayern coach he happens to be working under. Müller – sent onto the pitch carrying a tactics-card given to him by Kompany – immediately affected the play by drawing coverage during an aerial duel on Bayern’s 2-2 equalizer. 

The new FCB trainer – in stark contrast to his counterpart Ralph Hasenhüttl at the post-match presser – also had kind words for his club’s traveling support. Unlike Hasenhüttl, the 38-year-liked what he saw from his fans. Kompany offered up his thoughts on the crowd immediately after Hasenhüttl was done speaking.

“Regarding the atmosphere, it’s great in Germany how all the players go visit with the fans after the game,” Kompany said, “They take the time to share and enjoy that moment together. It was great today, and also in the Tottenham friendly and the Ulm cup game. One doesn’t get that in every league. It’s special here in Germany.”