Bayern Munich head into the new Bundesliga season as heavy favourites once again, with Vincent Kompany looking to guide the club to another title in his first full campaign in charge. Harry Kane, fresh off a prolific debut year in Bavaria, will be central to those ambitions as Bayern aim to extend their domestic dominance.
As BBC Sport notes, the real question this season isn't whether Bayern will win the league — bookmakers already treat that as close to inevitable — but what genuinely counts as success for a club expected to sweep aside domestic competition virtually every year. With Bundesliga rivals struggling to close the gap, attention turns to how Kompany's side perform in Europe and whether silverware beyond Germany's top flight is required to satisfy expectations at the Allianz Arena.
The piece frames this as the defining challenge for Bayern in the season ahead: managing overwhelming favourite status while chasing standards that go beyond just retaining the domestic crown.