Kompanys Bayern-Rotation erklärt: So gelang der Coup gegen Hoffenheim

It was certainly brave. Vincent Kompany made no fewer than five changes to his starting line-up – almost half the team swapped for the Bundesliga meeting with TSG Hoffenheim in late summer temperatures in Sinsheim. A measure that coaches normally only adopt when little or nothing went well in the previous match. However, the last match, a little over 48 hours ago against Club World Cup winners Chelsea, was certainly no disaster, quite the opposite.

Magic potion

The convincing 3-1 win over the Blues in the Champions League opener followed Bayern’s mightily impressive early-season form, which suggests that Kompany may have been given a recipe for a magic potion from a small, indomitable Gallic village. Even after rotating their starting XI, Bayern remained too good for a battling but ultimately unfortunate Hoffenheim side: it finished 4-1, marking the German record champions' seventh victory in seven competitive matches.

“We shouldn’t forget that, as we’ve said from the start, we had virtually no holiday, we had a very short pre-season and although things are going very well at the moment, we shouldn’t forget that we need the whole squad,” Kompany had explained. “We trust all the boys and are fully up for this match.”

Minjae Kim replaced Dayot Upamecano in the centre of defence. Sacha Boey came in at right-back with Konrad Laimer shifting to the left in place of the injured Josip Stanišić. Leon Goretzka was handed a start in place of Joshua Kimmich, who was not on the field from the beginning for the first time since March. New signing Nicolas Jackson (for Serge Gnabry) and Lennart Karl (for Michael Olise) made full debuts – Karl becoming the second-youngest player after Mathys Tel (17 years and 136 days) to start for FCB in the Bundesliga at 17 years and 210 days.

Initially it looked like not only the spectators but also the players themselves had to get used to the unfamiliar line-up. The champions’ gearbox was grinding and jolting – also because Hoffenheim, similar to Chelsea on Wednesday night, pressed with audacity, confidence and purpose. “They were better in the first half. They won the tackles and did almost everything right,” praised Kompany. “We didn’t really find the rhythm for our game. Hoffenheim did well and we obviously weren’t happy,” agreed Jonathan Tah.

TSG had built up plenty of courage with three wins from the first four games in all competitions, which was on evidence now. It was Hoffenheim who were flowing and combining – and had the chances. The best was a shot from Fisnik Asllani that struck the outside of the post in the 13th minute, when Manuel Neuer made a hair-raising misplaced pass. Although Bayern had significantly more possession at 77 percent by the time the first drinks break was hastily arranged, given the statistics of 6-1 shots and 12-2 touches of the ball in the opposition penalty area in favour of the hosts, Kompany vocally readjusted his team after a quarter of an hour. His side appeared too jittery and downright surprised by Hoffenheim’s strong start.

And so, once again, it fell to Harry Kane: the England captain gave the visitors the lead with a stylish first-time finish from Karl’s corner in the 44th minute. Tah and Goretzka had helped Kane to escape his marker with some clever positional play. “We practised that in training,” revealed Kompany. “It’s one thing scoring the goal, but you also need talent and quality.” With his assist, Karl became the youngest provider in Bayern’s Bundesliga history, breaking Toni Kroos’ record by 55 days. It was also the Reds’ ninth goal in the first half in their fourth league game of the season. Yet Hoffenheim appeared neither knocked back or frustrated by the goal, which came against the run of play. Before the half was up, Kim somehow scrambled Muhammed Damar’s bouncing shot off the line.

Knockout after restart

It was only after the break that Bayern delivered the knockout blow. Karl found Boey, whose shot unluckily struck a Hoffenheim hand. Kane made no mistake with the subsequent penalty into the bottom corner. The resistance seemed to be broken. Even more so when referee Robert Hartmann pointed to the spot again after substitute Olise was fouled. Kane fired the ball high into the net this time to make it 3-0. It was a historic goal as no other player in the history of the German top flight has converted all of his first 17 penalties (Hans-Joachim Abel and Max Kruse previously managed 16).

The 32-year-old’s ninth Bundesliga hat-trick also means the top scorer already has 10 goal involvements after just four matchdays (eight goals, two assists). “The second half was more like us: the way we moved the ball, how we pressed with and without the ball,” analysed the match-winner himself.

Although Hoffenheim did have something to celebrate once the conest was over, the hosts were unable to score more than the deflected free kick from Vladimir Coufal against a Bayern side that had long since settled into their stride, passing confidently and playing with authority. The German record champions even managed to make it 4-1 through Gnabry in the ninth minute of stoppage time – the attacker has now scored in each of the last three Bundesliga matches, underlining his good current form. 

But the man of the match, of course, was Kane, who’d already netted three times in the opening game against RB Leipzig. “I feel good,” commented Kane. “I know I’ll get chances in this team – that’s down to the boys. Two more penalties today, plus the first goal from a set-piece routine – credit to the set-piece guys, who set that up brilliantly for me. I was able to then finish it off. I just have to keep working hard for the team, then the goals will come.” No talk of a magic potion.