FEATURE | Philipp Lahm talks Bayern Munich, Vincent Kompany, Champions League, and more

“PSG are very strong individually. They have a very strong offence, and obviously, they’re the title defenders. At the same time, Bayern are also scoring goals. We’re seeing that both in the Bundesliga as well as in the Champions League. However, this game will be won in defence. That will be the key to this game.”

However, when talking more about defensive qualities under the lens of the Champions League semi-final, Philipp commented on the risk of Bayern’s reliance on defending mainly by one-on-one duels. 

Charles Booth of CBS Sports mentioned the importance of Bayern’s defensive displays under Kompany and what he thought of some of the changes that the head coach has made at the club. 

“He has brought calmness to the club and has a good style of commuting, as well as to the outside. The club has immense offensive quality, but defensively, they’re also defending one-on-one. That might be a risk, especially looking at the Champions League semi-finals. When you’re playing PSG, who have so much offensive quality. But Kompany is a great representative of the club, and he really has that style of commuting that you want to see from a Bayern coach.”

Goals, Goals, Goals

Unsurprisingly, when you talk about Bayern, you have to talk about goals. This season, the Bavarian giants have scored the most goals in a single Bundesliga season (109 so far) and also set a new club record last weekend by reaching over 160 goals in all competitions within a single campaign.  

Dan Wighton of the AFP News Agency asked what has made Luis Diaz’s impact at Bayern so special and so soon after his transfer from Liverpool. For Philipp, it’s a little bit of everything: 

“He has experience at the top level. He gained experience at Liverpool as well as on the highest international stage with the national team. He’s also a worker; he works for the team in both ways, attacking and defending, and is also aggressive. That is the most important trait, how he works for his team.”

Michael Olise: The Entertainer

When asked by Pardeep Cattry of CBS Sports what exactly makes this Bayern team so entertaining for him, Philipp was quick to mention not just Bayern’s attacking prowess, but the overall league’s appeal at the same time. 

“It’s no wonder that they have scored more than 100 goals and have now broken the old record. They just keep going, they just play until the end, always looking for more and more goals. And the Bundesliga is the highest-scoring top league in the world, with more than three goals per game on average. This is a feature of the Bundesliga, but also Bayern, especially this season.”

The conversation also turned to Michael Olise. The man of the moment for Bayern right now, and possibly one of the best wingers in World football. Philipp was questioned on the importance of Olise’s role within the squad and what;s the aspects of his game he enjoys watching the most. 

“He’s a player you just like to watch because he has the quality in dribbling and finishing. But he also knows when to play easy football and when the team just needs to keep the ball; he brings calmness to the game. So he combines both qualities as a football player and knowing when to change and read the game, that’s what is making him great.”

Is Bayern’s Dominance Damaging?

Before time was up, Philipp was quizzed on the attractiveness of the Bundesliga as a competitive league, particularly with a global audience who just see Bayern win title after title. 

“The Bundesliga is a very attractive league. We have a lot of major traditional clubs with a rich history. Obviously, it would be great to have more than one title winner in the next couple of years, but we also need to acknowledge that FCB have done a really great job in terms of developing [players] and international marketing. There’s a reason why they’re there, but other clubs such as Stuttgart certainly will have the opportunity to develop in the coming years if they can keep playing Champions League football.”

It was an insightful conversation with a former player who helped guide Bayern to their first treble as well as lifting the World Cup as captain in 2014. Thank you once again to Bundesliga Americas for facilitating the interview. 

GGFN | Jamie Allen