Sports
Do Bayern have the right attacking formula without Musiala?
MUNICH — The concept of a single standalone fixture — das Eröffnungsspiel — to usher in the new Bundesliga season after the long summer hiatus is a relatively new one, dating back only to 2002.
This showpiece Friday night event always features the defending champions and often takes place on their own pitch. However, in recent years, we have seen deviations with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively, traveling to Borussia Mönchengladbach (2021 and 2024) and Bayern going to Eintracht Frankfurt (2022) and Werder Bremen (2023).
To kick off the 2025-26 season, Germany’s Rekordmeister enjoys the initial home advantage in a potential tester against RB Leipzig. Not since 2020 and the days of lockdown and an 8-0 drubbing of Schalke 04 has the Allianz Arena played host to the ceremonial opening, and it will be an occasion of grandeur before 75,000 mixed with Bavarian Weißwurst (traditional sausage), beer and bonhomie.
The Bayern players this week were photographed in their traditional Oktoberfest attire ahead of the big forthcoming early autumn Wiesn festival that dominates the city. They already have the Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup in their possession after a deserved 2-1 win over Pokalsieger VfB Stuttgart on Saturday night.
Yet amid the smiles and good vibes here in the Bavarian capital, there is considerable daily pressure, and not just on the playing squad. For the second-year coach Vincent Kompany and sporting CEO Max Eberl, this feels especially true.
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It’s no secret that Kompany, after relegation from the Premier League with Burnley, was far from first choice to succeed Thomas Tuchel 12 months ago, but the Belgian impressed Eberl and others with his football vision, articulate and personable manner, and, of course, fluent German language skills.
Last season can be described as a qualified success. Bayern won the Bundesliga by 13 points, having surrendered the crown to Leverkusen the season before. Ninety-nine league goals made it the third-best season in club history on that front.
The negatives were another early exit from the DFB-Pokal, a cup Bayern last lifted in 2020, and the painful UEFA Champions League quarterfinal dismissal at the hands of Inter Milan.
Both can be described as unlucky, although Kompany will be expected to win the Meisterschale (Bundesliga trophy) and more this season. The supervisory board will be less forgiving one year on. A big positive was the style of football that most would agree is passend (fitting) with what the Bayern public enjoys in a way that Tuchel’s football simply wasn’t.
Possession play allied to a high and bold early press has been the Kompany recipe, even though it didn’t always go to plan. For example: early in the season against Barcelona in the Champions League and Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
Bayern can get into trouble when the defensive Kette (literal chain) becomes disconnected, resulting in rescue acts out of necessity, frequently by Manuel Neuer. This brings us to Eberl, who gets talked about more vigorously among football fans here in Munich much more than whether Kompany is a good coach for Bayern.
The fact is, being the Sportvorstand (sporting CEO at Bayern) carries with it an immense responsibility to constantly construct long-term plans while knowing that the wrong moves in the short term can cost you your job.
Eberl also has to work under the shadow of the Tegernsee: in other words, honorary president Uli Hoeneß, who always has an opinion when asked about pretty much any topic under the sun. A license to work away in peace hasn’t been a luxury afforded to Eberl since his move from Leipzig 18 months ago, nor will he expect to acquire it anytime soon.
Last winter, Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund made extending the contracts of key players like Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala the priority. But the handling of Thomas Müller‘s departure looked clumsy.
This summer, long-time attackers Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman have left the club. Sané’s contract had been allowed to run down, while Coman’s move to Al Nassr brought in €24 million.
Bayern’s outlay of €75 million, including extras for the signing of 28-year-old Luis Díaz from Liverpool, has not met every fan’s approval. Yes, the Colombian is a splendid footballer and marked his first official appearance in the Super Cup with a goal.
But as with Harry Kane, we’re not talking about players here contributing to a sustainable transfer strategy. They are for the attacking here and now, and there are question marks about its composition at least in the short term, with playmaker Musiala set to miss a big chunk of the Hinrunde, the first part of the season.
Who is going to fill the Musiala hole? Against Stuttgart, it was mostly Serge Gnabry, with the often irresistible Michael Olise dropping in there from time to time. I must admit I would have liked to see 25 competitive minutes from 17-year-old Lennart Karl on Saturday. He’s small, left-footed, represented by Michael Ballack, and while not a direct like-for-like Musiala replacement, surely represents the future for Bayern.
Instead, Karl was handed only the briefest of cameos in Stuttgart and this brings us nicely to the theme of the Bayern Campus, as they call it, and Kompany’s attitude to bringing in youth. At last week’s pre-match news conference, Kompany addressed the thorny subject, acknowledging the importance, but adding the caveat that we in the media might have to be patient.
Of course, every coach has to be mindful of self-preservation and his pragmatic need for results. Others can worry about long haul plans that he may never be part of. Eberl and the Bayern decision-makers are attracted by the idea of bringing in Chelsea‘s Christopher Nkunku for the Musiala position. Hoeneß favors a loan, whereas Eberl feels a permanent signing. The supervisory board meets on Monday, and Eberl’s work will certainly be critiqued.
In other positions, I feel the addition of Jonathan Tah, arguably the best Bundesliga defender over the past couple of seasons, will add solidity to Bayern. Plus, the talented Aleksandar Pavlović is back after suffering a fractured eye socket. Kane’s statement this week that the current Bayern squad is the smallest he has ever been part of as a top-level professional was not meant to attract controversy but is rather a statement of fact.
In the first few matches, with these thin options, does Kompany have the right formula without Musiala in the creative department? The 19-year-old attacking midfielder Paul Wanner is no longer an alternative since he has been transferred to PSV, while Raphaël Guerreiro looks like an ill-fitting No. 10 option at this stage of his career.
Against Leipzig, we’ll learn more.
Sports
Travis Kelce calls for Shedeur Sanders to start for Browns amid controversy: ‘Give the people what they want’
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Travis Kelce has spoken out about the ongoing controversy over Shedeur Sanders‘ role with the Cleveland Browns.
During his “New Heights” podcast this week, the Kansas City Chiefs star said he believes the Browns should start Sanders, who is third on the team’s depth chart behind veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.
Travis Kelce spoke about Shedeur Sanders’ role with the Browns on the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast, which aired before the official start of the NFL season. (Imagn)
“Give the people what they want, in terms of the Browns fans. Start Shedeur. … Put him in coach,” Kelce said. “Give the people what they want. The world wants to see him go out there, and not only play, but have success. At this point, guys are rooting for him. This isn’t anything against Dillon. This isn’t anything against Joe. I’m just saying the excitement is there for [Sanders] to go out there. He’s going to put eyes on the screen. He’s going to bring people to the game.
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“I would love to f—ing see it, man.”
On the contrary, Kelce’s brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, defended the team naming Joe Flacco as the starter.
“[Browns head coach Kevin] Stefanski and the Browns are trying to do the thing that they feel gives them the best chance to win football games,” Jason said. “If the Browns and Kevin Stefanski felt their best option and the most confident option they had to win games was Shedeur Sanders, they would be playing him.”
Still, Jason conceded that he “wants” to see Sanders play.
“What do I want? I want to see Shedeur Sanders,” Jason said.
Jason also rejected the “conspiracies” surrounding the situation as to why Sanders is as low on the depth chart as he is.
Criticism and conspiracy theories directed at the Browns reemerged after the team’s preseason finale on Saturday.
Sanders entered the game in the third quarter and completed three of six passes for 14 yards, while taking five sacks for a combined loss of 41 yards against the Los Angeles Rams. He netted minus-27 yards for Cleveland before being pulled from the game on the final drive and replaced by veteran Tyler Huntley.
Huntley led the Browns’ offense on a game-winning field goal drive, and the Browns won 19-17.
It was a far cry from Sanders’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers Aug. 8, when he threw for two touchdowns and was praised by fans and sports stars, including LeBron James and Dawn Staley.
However, many fans and pundits were quick to defend Sanders for his rough outing on Saturday and blamed the Browns’ coaching for putting Sanders in a position where he had to rely on backup teammates while also calling questionable plays.
EX-NBA PLAYER MAKES SHEDEUR SANDERS-LEBRON JAMES COMPARISON AFTER QB’S PRESEASON DEBUT
Jason Kelce on the ESPN postseason countdown set during the 2025 Pro Bowl Games at Camping World Stadium Feb. 2, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr questioned why Sanders wasn’t left in the game to finish the final drive.
“I need to understand why we don’t get to see Shedeur Sanders run this 2-minute drill? Wouldn’t you want to see your young QB operate in this situation? Get him more reps for the future? I didn’t see the whole game so maybe he already showed enough? Help me understand this…” Carr wrote on X.
Sports talk show host Skip Bayless posted a 16-minute rant in defense of Sanders on X, while condemning the Browns for their handling of the quarterback.
“They sabotaged it. They rigged it against him today, putting him in with third- and fourth-stringers, fifth-stringers. You got no shot at quarterback,” Bayless said.
Other users on social media leveled similar criticisms at the Browns, with some speculating that the obstacles being put in front of the quarterback are intentional.
Prior to that game, NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson stoked conspiracy theories related to Sanders in a recent interview, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft in April.
“I tell you this much, what I heard from someone that’s in the NFL [is] that the NFL told [teams], ‘Don’t draft him, do not draft him,'” Dickerson said in a recent interview on the “Roggin and Rodney” show on AM 570 LA Sports.
“‘We’re going to make an example out of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to have him not get drafted to basically show you, ‘This is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL’s got all kinds of power. They do all kinds of stuff.”
Sanders’ slide out of the first round shocked many, including President Donald Trump, who condemned the league’s owners for passing on the quarterback in a Truth Social post.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”
“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders against the Philadelphia Eagles during a game at Lincoln Financial Field. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
Sanders was eventually taken by the Browns on the third and final day of the draft with the 144th pick. The quarterback was initially considered a possible contender for the first overall pick early in the draft process after finishing his final season at Colorado.
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Pakistan men’s hockey team has accepted an invitation to compete in the Pro League 2025–26 season, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed on Thursday.
The Green Shirts were formally invited by the apex body to participate in the “League of the Best” after Hockey New Zealand withdrew from the nine-team tournament despite winning the FIH Nations Cup earlier this year in Malaysia.
The PHF was initially given a deadline of August 12 to confirm its national men’s team’s participation, but the federation sought an extension until August 20 as it was awaiting financial support from the government.
The federation was subsequently issued Rs250m for the event on Wednesday, leading to it confirming its men’s team’s participation the next day.
“The International Hockey Federation (FIH) can confirm that the Pakistan men’s hockey team, nicknamed the Green Shirts, have accepted the invitation to participate in the upcoming 2025-26 season of the FIH Hockey Pro League,” the apex body said in a statement.
Pakistan will join arch-rivals India, alongside Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain in the upcoming seventh edition of the tournament, replacing Ireland, who were relegated after finishing last in the previous season.
The Green Shirts’ participation in the tournament meant that they would also square off against traditional rivals India, who narrowly escaped relegation last season as they finished just above bottom-ranked Ireland.
FIH President Tayyab Ikram expressed his delight over Pakistan’s addition to the Pro League, stating it would be a major boost for the team with a rich history and would bolster the tournament’s viewership.
“Great to see Pakistan back in elite competition — this is a truly impactful milestone for world hockey,” Ikram said in an FIH-released statement.
“Their return marks not only the comeback of a team with such a rich and storied history, but also an exciting boost to the visibility and reach of the FIH Hockey Pro League. I can already anticipate an enhanced visibility of the Pro League with Pakistan’s participation.
“Congratulations to the Pakistan men’s team for qualifying through the FIH Hockey Nations Cup and earning their place in the ‘League of the Best’ for the very first time. This achievement is a strong example of how creating more opportunities at every level of our sport fosters growth and provides a natural pathway to the very top.”
For the unversed, Pakistan were set to participate in the inaugural edition of the FIH Pro League in 2019 but pulled out their first three games scheduled against Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, citing ‘inevitable circumstances’, which resulted in them being suspended from the tournament’s remainder.
Travis Kelce calls for Shedeur Sanders to start for Browns amid controversy: ‘Give the people what they want’
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