Bayern Munich will have to switch their mentality to fit the knockout games of the Champions League, coach Vincent Kompany said on Wednesday, with the Bavarians potentially facing Manchester City in the playoff for a Round of 16 spot.
Bayern beat Slovan Bratislava 3-1 on Wednesday in their last game of the new league phase of the competition but failed to finish in the top eight and missed out on automatic round of 16 qualification.
Bayern München end the league phase with a win ✅#UCL pic.twitter.com/JtpU4hw65S
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 29, 2025
They will now face either City or Celtic in the playoff with the draw set for Friday.
Who will make it all the way to Munich? 💬#UCL pic.twitter.com/G6LlEYn1Q4
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 29, 2025
"Now we have to restore this energy to be hot for those games," Kompany said.
"Now City as well as Celtic enter these knockout matches with a good feeling and we need to have that as well."
City needed a 3-1 win over Brugge to go into the playoffs.
"We have to build our energy. We have to switch to the mentality of looking forward to these big game. You get to the stage of a competition where you expect big games."
The Bavarians needed a few more goals against Slovan to have a chance of automatic qualification but despite a string of chances they could not improve the scoreline and conceded a late goal from the visitors to finish in 12th place.
"Despite the win today the joy is not the same. Today we did not have a lot of thing in our control regarding the situation but from tomorrow we will have again," Kompany said.
"We now have to switch the mentality to be fully energised for these games."