'Serious' Bayern showing delights Kompany
Bayern Munich thrashed Auckland City 10-0 on Sunday, shattering the record for the biggest margin of victory in a Club World Cup match.
Vincent Kompany felt Bayern Munich's "serious" performance deserved plenty of credit after it cruised to a 10-0 win over Auckland City at the Club World Cup.
Bayern began its Group C campaign with an emphatic defeat of an Auckland team made up of part-time players.
Jamal Musiala helped himself to a hat-trick, with Kingsley Coman, Michael Olise and Thomas Muller scoring twice each. Sacha Boey was also on target at TQL Stadium.
Bayern's win is the biggest in the history of the Club World Cup, surpassing Al-Hilal's 6-1 victory over Al Jazira in 2021.
Though there will be much tougher games to come, against Benfica and Argentine giant Boca Juniors, Kompany still feels his team is worthy of the plaudits despite the calibre of its opponents.
"Job done. We played very seriously and did what we had to do," he said, pointing to an example of Musiala bursting back to make a crucial tackle in Bayern's penalty area.
"Perhaps goal difference is also important in this group. We said beforehand that it would probably be all about attacking power.
"When a team sits deep and defends well, it's not a given that they'll score ten goals. And that's why we couldn't do much more today.
"The highlight for me was Musiala's sprint into the defence. And when you do that in a game like that, you have a good foundation."
Among teams with more than two matches played at the Club World Cup, Bayern are the only ones to boast a 100 percent win record (five from five).
Kompany believes their next match, against Boca, will prove to be a thriller.
"The next match against Boca Juniors will be the highlight of the group stage," Kompany said. "A traditional club from Europe against a traditional club from South America. Even if I wasn't Bayern manager, I would have attended this match."
Muller, who has netted 250 goals in all competitions for Bayern, echoed Kompany's sentiment.
"We played well, we played seriously, we played with intensity," said Muller, who is leaving Bayern after the tournament.
"We didn't let anything happen. After every goal, we kept pushing and wanted the next one straight away. That's why we earned the score we scored.
"The stadium was packed, the fans went wild when we scored. It was fun. We want to keep it that way. We won't always get results like that, but the way we played – we want to carry that into our next games."
Jonathan Tah, who marked his Bayern debut with an assist for Coman's early opener, knows he and his team-mates cannot get carried away.
"It's good that we started the tournament like this. This is exactly what we set out to do," he said.
"This is exactly how we want to continue. We're all ready and were happy that it's finally starting. We can't overestimate the game. We have to keep our heads straight and know that our opponents are getting stronger."
