What stood out in Bayern Munich’s win in the friendly against Aston Villa: extreme pressing with a surprising experiment! | Goal.com

Veröffentlicht am 07 Aug 2026 | Lesezeit: 3 Minuten

Many years ago, some coaches took an approach that now looks deeply questionable: players spent the week doing little but running and lifting weights so they would be "hungrier" for the ball at the weekend. Nobody is suggesting Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany has suddenly gone back to that method. Even so, their display in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa in Hong Kong might have made you wonder.

At times, the Munich side chased the ball as if they were not playing a friendly for the applause of the Chinese fans, but for the Champions League title that Kompany has declared as the target. They pressed visibly startled Villa players in and often even around their own penalty area with maximum aggression, forcing numerous high turnovers.

Konrad Laimer drove that effort. The all-rounder played like a hybrid of a No 10 and a centre-forward and organised the extreme pressing in the way Thomas Müller did in his best years. Laimer has mainly featured as a full-back for Bayern Munich in the past, but he has already taken on this central role more often for the Austria national team, for example at the World Cup in the win over Jordan.

That surprising role for Laimer was very much a product of necessity because, at this stage of pre-season, Kompany has no top-class alternatives in the central attacking area. Harry Kane and Michael Olise are still on World Cup holiday and will only return to training after the trip to Asia. Jamal Musiala, new signing Ismael Saibari, Serge Gnabry and Lennart Karl are working on their comebacks in Munich.

Against Aston Villa, several World Cup players also made their first starts of this pre-season in defence: captain Manuel Neuer in goal, Jonathan Tah at centre-back alongside Min-Jae Kim, Nathaniel Brown at left-back, Aleksandar Pavlovic as the holding midfielder next to Tom Bischof. At right-back, Sacha Boey, who is a candidate to be cut, delivered a decent performance.

On the wings, the two talents Maycon Cardozo (17) and Tim Binder (19) produced a number of bright moments. Alongside Laimer, Arijon Ibrahimovic was initially Bayern’s most eye-catching attacking player, although he missed two good chances to shoot. Next season, the 19-year-old academy product is planned as the backup for Luis Diaz on the left wing.

For all their clear superiority and extreme pressing, Bayern Munich did not make enough of it. The tempo dipped slightly after about half an hour, but that was exactly when the Munich side went in front. In the 37th minute, Min-Jae Kim headed home a Bischof free-kick. Neuer did not have a single dangerous shot to save in the first half.

After his committed display in an unfamiliar role, Laimer stayed in the dressing room at half-time. Josip Stanisic replaced him and slotted in at left-back. Brown, who had started there, moved into Laimer’s role as the pressing leader. Over the second half, Luis Diaz, Joao Palhinha, Hiroki Ito, Bastian Assomo, Filip Pavic and Guido Della Rovere also came on. After several missed chances, Diaz made it 2-0 in the 74th minute with a fine strike from an Ibrahimovic assist. Joao Gomes pulled one back for Villa in the 83rd minute and, seconds later, Neuer denied Tammy Abraham with a magnificent reflex save to prevent the equaliser.

Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win over Villa was their third victory in a fourth friendly. After a defeat to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden, Bayern Munich most recently beat FC Rottach-Egern and Jeju SK FC. The Munich side return home on Saturday. One week later, their next friendly is against RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena.

Lesen Sie die Originalnachricht