The spectacular matches of Bayern Munich against Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Champions League have increased fans’ interest in the Bavarian club. This was supported by Jan-Christian Dreesen, CEO of the Bavarian club, who stated in an interview published on the team’s website that, thanks to those Champions League challenges, “we have gained over five million new followers on social media.” An impressive figure, even if not demonstrable with a cause-and-effect report. But, if it were true even partially, it would be very significant.
The football expressed by Vincent Kompany (and his opponent Luis Enrique) is the manifesto of the new frontier of the game: matches are not won by conceding fewer goals than the opponent, but by scoring more. A difference that seems subtle, but which actually radically changes the way to approach matches. Bayern Munich is indeed the team that, summing all competitions, has scored the most in Europe: the goals scored this season are 174. To give an idea, Inter, with only one game less played, has put together 107. Sixty-seven fewer. And it is the one with the best numbers in Italy. Kompany’s offensive approach has been seen not only in the Bundesliga but also, and perhaps especially, in the Champions League. The numbers are impressive: eleven victories in 13 matches and 42 goals scored (an average of over three per match). The matches against Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were a snapshot of this football philosophy of Kompany: ten goals scored in total and nine conceded, the sum of a 2-1 at the Bernabeu in the first leg, a 4-3 at the Allianz Arena in the return leg, and a 5-4 defeat at the Parc des Princes.
According to the CEO of Bayern, these three Champions matches would have generated great interest and enthusiasm towards the Bavarian club. Just think that the return match of the quarter-finals against Real Madrid, according to what the German newspaper Kicker, would have been watched by almost a billion people. Translated, almost one in eight people in the world. Stunning numbers, which confirm the unstoppable growth of the Bavarian club in recent years. But the spectacle offered in the Champions matches has also had another effect: “The fact that Bayern Munich is talked about so much in the United States and in the major international media shows that global interest in the club has reached a new dimension,” Dreesen added. “This is important for our fans, but also for our partners and sponsors.”
From Dreesen’s words, it is clear that the football Kompany has in mind is actually the result of a well-defined corporate vision: “We are down by a goal at halftime, and that is exactly how we must approach the match,” he says. “We need to recover, we cannot afford to relax even for a second.” And in response to a specific question about the beauty of the football spectacle seen at the Parc des Princes, Dreesen replied: “Praise will not take us to the final in Budapest.” However, in the meantime, what has been seen on the field has helped to grow the reputation and standing of Bayern worldwide. That is not little, it is not taken for granted.