The Bundesliga giants have ripped off an impressive run of results of late as they prepare to face Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker

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Bayern Munich's desperate search for a manager to succeed Thomas Tuchel feels like a lifetime ago. After confirming back in February they would part ways with their head coach, the club were unable to appoint a successor until the end of May.

The 'godfather of gegenpressing' Ralf Rangnick was heavily linked with the job. A humiliating reunion with Julian Nagelsmann was touted. An even more humiliatingly reconciliation with Tuchel before he walked out the Allianz Arena doors was briefly on the table.

Alas, their attempts to bring in a German candidate who knew the Bundesliga inside out proved fruitless. Attention then surprisingly turned to Vincent Kompany, who had just overseen Burnley's meek relegation from the Premier League and proclaimed his readiness for the challenge of winning promotion from the Championship for a second time.

It was a gamble based on promise and potential. The Clarets' 2022-23 campaign was built on a young and newly-assembled team playing pretty football, before living and dying by those principles the following season. So far, Bayern have benefitted from Kompany's 'tweaked' approach and newfound discipline.

Heading into Saturday's clash with arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, Bayern have pieced together a run of seven-successive clean sheets, all the while maintaining the extra attacking edge they had hoped for under their new boss.

Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportInherited problem

Many of Bayern's struggles under Tuchel came from a lack of cohesion both on and off the ball. There was plenty of firepower in the ranks, though seldom the teamwork needed to do an appropriate enough job in both boxes.

It was the task at the defensive end which gave the German coach most problems. Having been famed for tightening up Chelsea's leaky backline so quickly they won the Champions League within five months of his arrival, Tuchel was under pressure to do the same in Munich, only to find solutions lacking. With his job on the line, Tuchel lobbied for the January arrivals of Eric Dier and Sacha Boey to try and steady the ship. There was short-term promise, but nothing more.

Bayern's recruitment, once near-faultless, all of a sudden was viewed as disastrous. Their bank-breaking deal to bring in Kim Min-jae, the 2022-23 Serie A Defender of the Year and a Scudetto-winner with Napoli, appeared to have backfired after a string of calamitous performances, which eventually led to Tuchel blaming the South Korean for their 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals. Questions also remained over Dayot Upamecano, who hadn't kicked on as hoped at club level despite some more promising displays with the France national team.

Tuchel's second and final season at Bayern ended in European heartache and a third-place Bundesliga finish behind runaway, superhuman leaders Bayer Leverkusen – acceptable – and surprise package Stuttgart – less acceptable.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportControversial sale

Kompany's remit was clear. He had to instil an attacking identity, lean on youth a little bit more, and sort out the messy defence. In essence, he had to improve left for him by Tuchel, who handed over the keys to the club with the willingness of a realtor who had duped a none-the-wiser couple into buying a haunted house.

Reshaping the back four saw Bayern move for Stuttgart's Hiroki Ito and finalise Dier's permanent signing on a free transfer after his initial loan from Tottenham. Josip Stanisic's return from title-winners Leverkusen also bolstered Kompany's options, and the promise to move Joshua Kimmich back into midfield opened up other avenues for his positional rivals at right-back.

Baby steps were appreciated by supporters in Bavaria, only for the club to tip away that goodwill when they chose to sell Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United – a decision so unpopular that over 60,000 people signed a petition protesting this call.

"We all want Matthijs de Ligt to stay at FC Bayern Munich!" the petition read. "He has proven that he's a world-class defender, probably the best in our squad. There is a reason why he was elected as our best player in the 2022-23 season. Furthermore, he is only 24 years old and has a bright future ahead, which he is going to use to fulfil his huge potential.

"Despite his young age, Matthijs is already very mature and has a great mentality which will definitely make him a leading figure in defence and probably a competitor for captaincy in some years. His ability to speak English, German and Dutch fluently would help him a lot for that. When 19, he led Ajax to the Champions League semi finals as captain.

"Selling Matthijs de Ligt would be an absolutely horrible decision and we would definitely regret it. That's why we use our voice to call attention that we will NOT make this mistake!"

Those pleas, however, fell on deaf ears, and De Ligt joined Noussair Mazraoui in swapping the Allianz Arena for Old Trafford.

Getty Images SportKompany's revolution

There were a few teething issues for Bayern to begin their first season with Kompany at the helm. With Michael Olise joining from Crystal Palace and the sensational Jamal Musiala more involved in build-up, their attacking upside was quickly realised, but was counteracted and balanced back out a little by their limit-pushing offside trap.

How sustainable the team's aggressive pressing was became another factor for consideration. A new manager bounce, albeit one to open a campaign rather than midway through it, produced an uptick in attacking urgency and movement on the ball, but not off of it in the other direction.

Nonetheless, Kompany was swiftly praised for his efforts in establishing a new identity, even if much of the team's core remained the same from the previous term. The cons listed against the Belgian upon arrival in southern Germany were regarding his strict man-management and gung-co carelessness, yet these concerns eased through the opening months of his tenure.

There were some notably high-scoring wins to boot too, including a 9-2 mauling of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and successive victories by five goals in September Bundesliga matches, and by the time they met Barcelona at the end of October, talk was bubbling over their prospects of conquering Europe.

Getty Images SportTurning point

In the battle of the exciting upstarts who we didn't know if they were the real thing or not, Barcelona prevailed. That's putting it lightly, actually. They smashed Bayern 4-1 at their temporary home on the Montjuic mountaintop.

Barca – coached by ex-Bayern boss Hansi Flick and undertaking his own redemption arc – scythed through their visitors again and again, while Kompany's side failed to beat the hosts' devilish offside trap. A competitive first half was followed by a one-sided second, and the head coach was punchy with his assessment when speaking to German media after the final whistle.

"There are no excuses," Kompany said. "What's important is that we learn from this game. This game won't decide our season. Why there was such a big difference between the first and second half is something we need to look at."

Ironically, this may have actually turned out to be the game which decide Bayern's season, in a twisted and convoluted sense.