It is the time of the season where people look back and reminisce on a long year of football.
With Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw with Freiburg came confirmation that Die Werkself could not catch Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga table and that the Bavarians had won the Bundesliga title after missing out the previous year. New head coach Vincent Kompany reflected on the long trek to the title in a recent interview, via Bayern’s website, and admitted the way the title was won was not the most satisfying way to do it: “Of course you always prefer to decide it [the title] by yourself, but the moment was still just as nice because we were all together. We worked hard all season for this moment. I’ve won a lot in my career, but the motto for me is that you always have to celebrate and feel like it’s the first time. We can now enjoy it a bit. I think we were dominant all season long. I think this title might just be a start. And that motivates us for the future.”
He also hastened to downplay his role in the title victory: “You have to understand that the biggest role is always played by the players. I think it’s great that I get to accompany the guys and that we play the way we do. I’m proud of that. At the end of the day I know it’s the players. I don’t win anything, it’s the team that wins and the boys have been the most important for me. I enjoyed a lot of titles as a player, I know what my role was back then. But now as a coach, it’s important that the players enjoy this moment.”
Yet not every moment of the season was enjoyable. Asked about the key moments of the season, Kompany singled out the reactions to setbacks as key: “The key moments are always the difficult ones. Yes we scored 9 goals against Zagreb, and I wish we can do that again next week if possible, but ultimately it’s about the difficult moments. After the defeat in Barcelona [in the Champions League] we went 7 games in a row without conceding. And in Bochum, where we lost last year, we won 5-0. For me these are the important moments. After the setback against Feyenoord, a reaction against Freiburg. After the setback against [Inter Milan], a reaction against Heidenheim and then Mainz. Also we had bad luck with the timing of the injuries. Despite that, against Inter, although we didn’t win, nobody spoke about the guys who weren’t there. We spoke about the performance and why we didn’t score [more] goals. For me that makes the motivation for next season even bigger.”
For now, however, the desire to celebrate and feel the joy of winning a record 33rd Bundesliga title is the greatest priority before the players go again next season. It seems there has even been some practice put into perfecting the celebrations for the title party after this weekend’s match against Borussia Mönchengladbach: There was already a shower on Sunday [laughs]. The boys practiced it a bit. For me this is a moment for the players. I want them to enjoy it. I want the fans to enjoy it too. And then we’ll see what awaits us [at the title party].”
Joy, happiness and a sense of pride at a job well done should feature heavily during the party. Also an ungodly amount of alcohol. The players still correctly remember to celebrate the high points in life. And when the elation fades, the team will turn their attention to future successes and re-establishing their total dominance over the Bundesliga title.
