Bayern not handing out any gifts to relegation-threatened Heidenheim, says Kompany

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Vincent Kompany insisted Bayern Munich would not be handing out any gifts to relegation battlers Heidenheim as the visitors fight for their Bundesliga survival.Bayern have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title, their 35th top-flight crown in club history, with one eye on the second leg of their Champions League semi-final next week. Kompany's side played out an enthralling nine-goal thriller against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes, with Luis Enrique's side emerging 5-4 victors in the match. The Bayern boss made wholesale changes ahead of the first leg in their league clash with Mainz, and he was forced to use his bench to help them come from three goals down. Heidenheim and Bayern are separated by 60 points in the Bundesliga, though Frank Schmidt's side have begun to rally at the bottom to keep their faint survival hopes alive. After 15 games without a win, victories over Union Berlin and St. Pauli have given Heidenheim confidence, but Kompany said his team would be at their best from minute one. "It's also a good thing [to have the title sewn up] because it means we've done our job, but we don't want to give anyone any gifts," Kompany told reporters. "We're doing our best to win. We showed that in the last game against Mainz. We showed with our mentality that we're doing everything to be ready."The game against PSG was obviously very intense, and the anticipation for the second leg is very high in all of Munich, but my job is to keep the focus on Heidenheim, which I'm trying to do every day."Kompany himself is no stranger to a relegation battle, having overseen Burnley's demotion to the Championship in 2023-24 before taking over from Thomas Tuchel at Bayern. "Heidenheim have won two of their last three games," Kompany said. "I spent a year in a relegation battle, and I find it incredible how they've hauled themselves back into a fight that appeared to be lost. A relegation battle is mentally very tough – great respect for them."The Bayern boss was on hand to speak about their defeat to PSG, which was the joint-highest semi-final match in European Cup/Champions League history, after Rangers' 3-6 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in 1959-60.It was also the first time in a European semi-final (any competition) that both teams scored 4+ goals, and just the second  Champions League knockout stage match after Chelsea drew 4-4 with Liverpool in the 2008-09 quarter-final."I don't always see everything black or white. For me, what happened in Paris is logical. Of course, I'd like to keep a clean sheet. That's always our aim," Kompany added."At Leverkusen, we did that brilliantly. If you analyse logically what happened in the match, it was to be expected. In the end, we just want to win and use the means we have."It makes sense. The only thing is to have the belief you can win that way. We don’t want to lose, and that’s what makes us strong."Heidenheim manager Schmidt, meanwhile, admitted it would need to be a perfect storm for his players to upset the division's dominant force."You can't get much bigger than us as underdogs," Schmidt said. "It's remarkable that we're now playing Bayern for points in the Bundesliga between these two Champions League matches. "Ultimately, we'll try to believe that something is possible on a perfect day. I think that's the basic requirement: to believe in it and have the courage to even get a chance."What's certain is that we have to perform at our absolute best in every area. And even that probably won't be enough – we also need that necessary bit of luck in crucial situations."PLAYERS TO WATCHBayern Munich – Jamal MusialaNo player has been directly involved in more goals across the last three Bundesliga matchdays than Bayern's Musiala (four, two goals and two assists).Among all players with at least 400 minutes played this Bundesliga season, Musiala also leads the league for touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes (10.0).Heidenheim – Budu ZivzivadzeZivzivadze has scored in three consecutive Bundesliga matches for the first time, equalling the club record for a Heidenheim player, previously set by Eren Dinkci in September 2023.MATCH PREDICTION: BAYERN MUNICH WINBayern are facing a bottom-of-the-table side for the third time this Bundesliga season, with their last such encounter ending in a 2-2 draw against Mainz in December. The last time they went consecutive Bundesliga games without a win against such teams was in 2006 under Felix Magath (three).However, this is a Bayern side that, with 82 points from 31 matches, are enjoying their second-best top-flight season ever, with only the 2012-13 campaign yielding more points at this stage (84) of a league campaign. Kompany's side have also set a new Bundesliga record for the most goals scored in a single season with 113, while Heidenheim share the unwanted record for the leakiest defence this term with Wolfsburg (66 goals conceded).In the history of Europe's top five leagues, only one club has ever recorded a higher goals-per-game average than Bayern this season (3.6): Athletic Bilbao in 1930-31 (4.1).Heidenheim have picked up points in only one of their five Bundesliga matches against Bayern, which came in a 3-2 home win in April 2024. Among teams they have faced at least five times in the Bundesliga, only against Rot-Weiss Oberhausen (4.4) do they have a higher goals-per-game average than they do against Heidenheim (3.6).But it could be a much tighter affair, given Heidenheim have lost only one of their last five league games (W2 D2) and have won two of their last three (L1), as many as in their previous 23 league games (D7 L14).And it is a special occasion for Schmidt, who is set to take charge of his 100th Bundesliga match, though he has lost 52 of their first 99 (W23 D24), with only Eduard Geyer with Energie Cottbus between 2000-01 and 2002-03 (54) suffering more defeats in his first century of games in the competition. OPTA WIN PROBABILITYBayern Munich – 72.3%Draw – 15.5%Heidenheim – 12.2%