Karl urged to 'enjoy these moments without any pressure' by Bayern boss Kompany

Vincent Kompany has urged Bayern Munich youngster Lennart Karl to "enjoy these moments without any pressure" following his Champions League heroics in midweek. 

Karl opened the scoring during Bayern's 4-0 rout of Club Brugge on Wednesday to put himself in the history books for the Bundesliga giants. 

Indeed, at 17 years and 242 days old, Karl became both became the youngest player to score for Bayern in the Champions League and the youngest German to ever score in the competition, breaking team-mate Jamal Musiala's prior record against Lazio in February 2021 (17y 363d) both times.

He was also the youngest player in Champions League history to start a match for Bayern, and the second-youngest German to start a game in the competition, after Julian Draxler for Schalke against Manchester United in May 2011 (17y 226d).

Kompany stressed the importance of keeping calm when asked about what the future may hold for the talented teenager, and he maintained that sentiment ahead of Bayern's Bundesliga clash with Borussia Monchengladbach this weekend. 

"As a young player, you don't have pressure. I want Lennart to feel that too. He has to enjoy what he's doing. If he makes mistakes, we'll discuss it," Kompany told reporters. 

"Hopefully, at some point, the pressure will be on his shoulders. But for now, he should enjoy these moments without any pressure."

The Bayern boss also discussed whether he believes Karl has a chance to go to the World Cup with Germany next summer.

"I have respect for [Germany coach] Julian Nagelsmann. My focus as Bayern coach is for Lennart Karl to be a success for Bayern Munich.

"He has to keep working and show that he has the qualities. Playing for Bayern can always be an advantage. But the focus has to be here; you can't think too far ahead."

Bayern's win over Club Brugge also maintained their perfect start to the campaign across all competitions in 2025-26. 

Bayern became the first Bundesliga club in history to start a season with 12 competitive wins – in Europe's top five leagues, only AC Milan managed a longer winning streak at the start of the season in 1992-93 (13).

And though this weekend's clash seems a formality, given Gladbach are rooted to the bottom of the standings and the only team in the Bundesliga yet to win this season, Kompany wanted to ensure that standards remained high. 

"When we come onto the pitch, we won't have the feeling that it's first vs. last. The fixture has a lot of tradition," Kompany added.

"I've been bottom myself, I know what that feels like. You try to find the motivation. We want to keep the focus high."

Kompany also confirmed that Jonas Urbig will replace Manuel Neuer in between the sticks at BORUSSIA-PARK ahead of next week's DFB-Pokal clash with Koln. 

Urbig must fill in for the Bayern captain due to suspension from last year's competition. 

"Jonas Urbig will start [on Saturday]. I don't normally say anything about the starting XI, but I've learnt that goalkeepers are always a bit different," Kompany said.

"We discussed it clearly, which also has to do with the fact that Jonas will play at Koln. In this case, clarity is important."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Borussia Monchengladbach – Haris Tabakovic

Haris Tabakovic has scored three goals in his last four Bundesliga matches – the same number as in his first 24 top-flight games combined.

Only Eintracht Frankfurt's Jonathan Burkardt (four) and Bayern's Harry Kane (seven) have scored more goals than him in the last four matchdays.

Bayern Munich – Harry Kane

Following his goal against Brugge, Kane has now scored in 10 consecutive games for club and country for the first time in his career. 

Since joining Bayern ahead of the 2023-24 season, no player across all competitions for a top-five European league side has struck more goals than Kane (105 in 108 games).

Kane also recently scored his 12th goal on the seventh matchday of this Bundesliga season – in the competition's history, only Borussia Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy scored more goals after seven matchdays (13) during his time with Stuttgart in 2023-24. 

The England captain has also scored in five consecutive Bundesliga matches, though he has never scored in more in a row.

MATCH PREDICTION: BAYERN MUNICH WIN

With a maximum haul of 21 points after seven matches, Kompany's team are enjoying their best Bundesliga season in 10 years. Only Bayern themselves have ever managed eight wins to start a season in Bundesliga history, which came in 2012-13 under Jupp Heynckes and in 2015-16 under Pep Guardiola.

Bayern are also unbeaten in 12 top-flight away games (W9 D3), their longest such streak since 2015-16 (14 games). They are the first team in Bundesliga history to score at least three goals in seven consecutive matches away from home. 

And with 27 goals, Bayern have the best attack in this Bundesliga season, a joint-record after seven games of a season, previously set by themselves in 2020-21 and by Monchengladbach in 1973-74. 

But Bayern have lost more Bundesliga matches against Monchengladbach (28) than against any other club. However, they recently won four consecutive top-flight matches against this weekend's opponents – five consecutive wins by a team would equal a record in this fixture, achieved only by Bayern in the first five clashes from 1965 to 1967.

But Eugen Polanski's side have recorded only three points from their first seven Bundesliga matches this season, equalling their joint-worst start to a campaign alongside the 2008-09 season.

This is the third time, after 1986-87 and 1990-91, that they have started a Bundesliga season with seven winless matches – they have never gone eight without a win at the start of a Bundesliga campaign. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Monchengladbach – 11.5%

Draw – 15.6%

Bayern Munich – 72.9%