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Vincent Kompany hopes it will be fourth time lucky as he seeks to lead Bayern Munich to their first win over Bayer Leverkusen since taking over the club.
Bayern welcome the Bundesliga champions to the Allianz Arena on Wednesday in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions League.
But it has been Xabi Alonso who has had the better of this fixture since joining Leverkusen in October 2022.
Indeed, under the Spaniard, Leverkusen are unbeaten in their six matches against Bayern across all competitions, winning three and drawing the rest of those games.
They have also kept a clean sheet in three of their last four against Bayern, after not keeping any in their previous 15 games against them, conceding 42 goals.
And 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 told a press conference on Tuesday.
“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.”
Sprinting towards the #UCL matchday tomorrow
The boys are locked in for Leverkusen #FCBayern #MiaSanMia | #FCBB04 #UCL pic.twitter.com/9ZGsI4ELGf
— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) March 4, 2025
The last meeting between the two sides came back in February, with Bayern able to hold on for a 0-0 draw, having been completely dominated by Alonso’s team.
Leverkusen registered an expected goals (xG) tally of 2.16 from their 15 shots, while also restricting Bayern to just two attempts, accumulating an xG of just 0.05.
But it is Kompany’s side who hold the advantage in the Bundesliga standings, holding an eight-point lead over second-placed Leverkusen with 10 games remaining.
“We don’t go into the game to do a bit less this week and a bit more next week,” Kompany said of their two-legged 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 ever meeting between Bayern and Leverkusen in a major European competition.
The 33-time Bundesliga champions won their last match against German opposition in the Champions League, beating Borussia Dortmund in the 2012-13 final.
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