Four Observations from Bayern Munich’s hard fought 3-0 victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach

Bayern Munich by no means had a perfect performance against an unexpectedly stubborn Borussia Mönchengladbach side. However, given the aid of key substitutions and a relentless fighting spirit, Kompany’s side were able to extend their perfect start to the season, tying a key European record in the process.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the game.

Maybe it was the traffic that delayed the start of the game. Maybe it was Vincent Kompany’s squad rotation. It also could have been complacency or even fatigue. Whatever you want to call it, Bayern Munich’s first half against Borussia Mönchengladbach was among the worst under Kompany’s managerial tenure.

Let’s start with an issue that, despite the vast number of goals Bayern has scored across the season, continues to haunt the Bavarians in key moments: finishing. In the eighth minute, Luis Diaz continued his consistently inconsistent form in front of goal, sending his left-footed shot wide of the mark after being one-on-one with Gladbach’s Moritz Nicolas. Later, Nicolas Jackson and Michael Olise would both squander golden opportunities to give Bayern the lead, although one could be far more lenient with the Frenchman. There were multiple opportunities to take the lead, and Kompany’s side failed to convert all of them.

One could understand that a game against Gladbach is always more complicated than it seems on paper. However, after spending the majority of the first half one man down thanks to Jens Castrop’s reckless challenge on Diaz and considering Die Fohlen’s terrible run of form, anyone would have expected Bayern to turn the screw and punish Gladbach. What transpired was almost the opposite. Gladbach reverted to scrap-fest tactics which completely flustered Bayern. While the defending Bundesliga champions remained in control, they were not able to do anything with all the possession, which serves as the perfect segue into the next issue: set pieces.

Despite multiple set pieces resulting from Gladbach’s disruptive style of play; Bayern posed zero threat. While this isn’t the end of world, especially since they have already scored multiple goals from set pieces this season, Bayern will be disappointed that no chances were created there.

A combination of Gladbach fatiguing and Vincent Kompany’s half time substitutions proved to be the make-or-break difference.

Credit where credit is due, the North Rhine-Westphalia side put up a valiant fight, especially considering they were playing with one man less for over three quarters of the game. In fact, it almost felt as if the red card united a poor Gladbach side and give the players something to fight for. However, gritting it out for the better part of seventy minutes against a team of Bayern’s class just doesn’t work. Gladbach eventually reached their limits and gassed out; this time Bayern would capitalise on their opportunities. That’s where the substitutions come in.

The half-time substitutions of Konrad Laimer and Raphaël Guerreiro immediately injected a sluggish Bayern side with a hit of energy. Kompany’s side immediately looked more threatening as Kimmich and Guerreiro both bagged their first goals in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. Cue the cherry on top, Lennart Karl. It was blatantly obvious Diaz was clearly fatigued from the start of the game. The Colombian attacker lacked polish and was subpar at best. Then, Bayern’s wonderkid, Karl, arrived on the scene. The German talent brought everything Diaz was lacking. Speed, energy, decisiveness. The 17-year-old continues to prove to be an effective tool in Kompany’s toolbox.

Fatigue could be the downfall of Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich

Injury and fatigue are the price to pay for having a thin squad. Fatigue leads to more injuries. More injuries lead to a thinner squad. And the vicious cycle repeats itself. Vincent Kompany’s style of play is crucially centered around high energy pressing and movement off the ball. The Belgian coach needs a squad full of fresh and fit players in order to implement these tactics. You start to see the issue, right?

Even the players who have remained injury free, such as Joshua Kimmich, Michael Olise, Luis Diaz and Harry Kane, were below their standard of play. While it’s great that Kompany’s core group of players have maintained their fitness and have been consistently available for selection, these players are clearly tired and need rest!

The key players’ performances will only get worse as the grueling season continues, meaning Kompany’s stye of play, the very thing that has made Bayern so successful this season, will become more and more difficult to implement.

Squad rotation: The double edged sword

Squad rotation is extremely important to keep players fit and injury free. However, squad rotation can prove disruptive to a player’s form and a team’s cohesiveness. This is the age-old dilemma every football coach has had to manage and the same dilemma that Kompany has been managing well.

Kompany, if given the choice, would field the same starting eleven week in and week out. But given the shortcomings of human physiology, that simply isn’t possible. Therefore, the only option is to rotate the squad — an area of Kompany’s managerial style that has seen major improvements.

Despite the rotation, the Bayern machine continues to operate. Every player knows what to do, how to do it and when to do it. For example, Bayern actually did fairly well to create scoring chances in the first half given their rotation. It was actually players who are likely to be suffering from fatigue that fluffed their lines — bar Nicolas Jackson, who is literally just a body to be thrown into the attack at this point.

Overall, the 39-year-old manager has done a good job relying on his entire squad instead of just relying on a core group to its detriment.

Vincent Kompany is doing something special

In contrast to the negative title, Bayern did what they had to do against an extremely stubborn Gladbach side to extend their historic start to the 2025/26 season. Bayern have now matched AC Milan’s record (13) for the best start to a season in Europe’s top five leagues.

Vincent Kompany is doing something extremely special at Bayern Munich, and fans should be savouring every second of it. It wasn’t too long ago that there was a terrible atmosphere surrounding a club labeled to be in ‘crisis’. While it’s not perfect, and it never will be, let’s take a moment to appreciate what a special time we get to experience as Bayern Munich fans!

Bayern Munich traveled to Borussia Mönchengladbach for a Bundesliga tilt featuring the league first-place and last-place teams.

The game went as expected — especially after Gladbach picked up an early red card, which completely shifted the momentum into Bayern Munich’s favor.

It was a daunting task to ask Gladbach to hold strong for over 70 minutes and eventually Die Fohlen just broke down. Ultimately, Bayern Munich walked away with a 3-0 victory over Gladbach.

Let’s get into all on this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show:

Also, be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.