Dark memories come back when even frustrated drinking didn’t help at FC Bayern October 1st, 2024, 11:44 a.m. When Aston Villa humiliates FC Bayern, the team is a no-name team. The Premier League club is now full of stars. Bayern’s new coach Vincent Kompany has already experienced this the hard way. But this time everything will be completely different. When we see the ghosts of the past again, dark memories come back for returnee Vincent Kompany and his Bayern team. The last time the coach faced Champions League opponents Aston Villa, he was so angry that “not even an ice bath” could cool him down. The Munich team, on the other hand, was not helped by extensive drinking in frustration over the bitter final defeat against the outsiders in the 1982 National Champion Cup. And this time? “This is a surprise,” says CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, “I have no idea what to expect.” Well, after the final training in Munich and the two-hour flight, the first thing waiting is Birmingham, the second largest city in England. And then: golf! The Bavarians live just outside in the famous The Belfry, which has been voted the best golf hotel in the world several times. The passionate players Harry Kane, who is there despite an ankle injury, and Thomas Müller will be happy. Not only is the PGA based in the Belfry, the Ryder Cup has taken place there four times – most recently in 2002 with the victory of the Europeans led by legend Bernhard Langer. Kompany hardly has time for all of that. His goal: to extend the lead he took in the table with the spectacular 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb. According to Max Eberl, there is no man better suited for this task. “Vini and his coaching staff know the Premier League better than any of us,” says the sports director. Eberl expects “a very, very intense game” and experienced coach Unai Emery’s Villa are playing “very active football.” What follows the spectacle? Kompany knows this all too well. At the end of December 2023, he lost with promoted FC Burnley in the atmospheric Villa Park and was very upset about several controversial referee decisions. Sports director Christoph Freund expects that the Champions League newcomers will once again “get down to business. We can look forward to a really exciting football game.”In a very special stadium. “It’s really old school,” says Dreesen. The images from the Munich exploration delegation showed that the fans literally had to “pull” their way through the narrow entrances. Once they’re in, they’re reminded every time of Villa’s greatest victory, which also meant one of the worst defeats in Bayern’s history. The North Stand is adorned with a huge banner with the words of the legendary TV commentator Brian Moore on the winning goal in the final of the national championship cup 42 years ago. “Oh, it must be and it is! It’s Peter Withe!” Moore exclaimed as the striker hit the hearts of the highly superior Bayern in Rotterdam – and gave Villa the trophy. For the Munich team around icons like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Paul Breitner, it was their first ever defeat in a major final. Klaus Augenthaler once reported on the sad “frustrated drinking” afterwards. Back then, Villa was a no-name team, now Emery’s team is full of stars: Argentina’s world champion goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, central defender Pau Torres, the midfielders Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans, center forward Ollie Watkins, plus ex-Bundesliga pro Leon Bailey and Ian Maatsen.”It will be a tough fight,” says Bayern captain Manuel Neuer, “they are hard to beat.” Island expert Kane speaks of a “good team that deserves to play in the Champions League”. But Villa or not, in the end, the returning player emphasized, “it’s about how we press, how we react after losing the ball and how we find space” – emphasis on “we”. Not that anyone has to climb into the ice cream bin or reach for the in-house Belfry gin.
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Dark memories come back: when even drunken drinking didn’t help at FC Bayern
