Bayern Munich have reclaimed the Bundesliga title this season under the tutelage of Vincent Kompany after finishing third in the previous campaign. However, their record in cup competitions remained the same since winning the Champions League in 2020.
Since then, the Bavarians have failed to reach the final of the cup competitions. They were knocked out of the DFB Pokal by Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16, whereas Inter Milan knocked them out in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Recently, in an interview with Kicker, Bayern star midfielder Joshua Kimmich was asked about this struggle in cup competitions. He highlighted injuries to be a key hindering factor in these games.
“I see the many injuries as a main cause. We were often missing three or four starters in the decisive phase of the season, and that was painful. This has been the case throughout my time at Bayern, even before,” Kimmich opined.
“Furthermore, we rarely managed to win 50-50 games. We were rightfully eliminated against Manchester City in 2023, otherwise, it was rarely truly deserved. We weren’t bad against Inter either, but we haven’t been able to turn those games in our favour often enough. That has a lot to do with game management and experience”
While they have reclaimed their position in Germany, Kompany will hope to improve this record in cup tournaments, which has been extremely poor since 2020 in both the Champions League and in DFB Pokal.
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The Bavarians, under the leadership of Kompany, have an option to break the jinx and bring a cup back to Munich when they fly out to the United States for the FIFA Club World Cup starting this month.
What did Kimmich say about the upcoming Club World Cup?
There’s a lot of focus around the FIFA Club World Cup this season with it’s interesting 32-team format. Therefore, the German champions have the opportunity to compete and win.
“Yes! Even though we weren’t consistent enough in the Champions League, we’ve shown that we can compete with the big teams. We know we were vulnerable and often punished, but we have the belief that we can beat anyone. I hope Jamal and Upa are fit again by then. We’re obviously missing Phonzy Davies terribly,” Kimmich said when asked about having the desire to win the Club World Cup.
However, currently, Kimmich’s focus is fixed on his national team as Germany are gearing up for the UEFA Nations League semifinal against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal on June 5.
When asked to compare between the Nations League and the Club World Cup, Kimmich shared he is keen to win both competitions.
“I don’t want to compare a club and a national team competition at all. As positive as I am about the Nations League, I’m really looking forward to the Club World Cup. I’m extremely excited about it and have always wondered why it hasn’t been around for a long time.”
Kimmich is all set to appearance in his 100th game for Germany if he takes the field against Portugal. He will be the 14th German player to reach this milestone.
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