It wasn’t fatigue that caused Joshua Kimmich to score the first own goal of his career; it was simply bad luck. Nevertheless, the prolific player subsequently revealed himself to be a fan of the winter break.
The mishap that led to the 0-1 score against Sporting Lisbon ultimately had no consequences: Joshua Kimmich deflected a sharp cross from Joao Simoes into his own goal, leaving Manuel Neuer with no chance. After Tuesday evening’s 3-1 win, the 30-year-old was able to laugh about his debut and joke with Sky reporter Torben Hoffmann, who had suffered a similar mishap as a Bundesliga professional. “I’ve never scored an own goal? Really? I wasn’t aware of that. Wow,” said the national player. Much more important for Kimmich and his teammates was the 3-1 win against the Portuguese, their fifth victory in their sixth Champions League group stage game. That means they need one more point, perhaps a win in the final two games against Union Saint-Gilloise and PSV Eindhoven, to avoid the knockout round playoffs, unlike last year, and instead have two fewer busy weeks in February.
“It would be important if we didn’t have to go through the play-offs. I still remember last February when we had to play Celtic, Leverkusen, Celtic, it was intense,” said Kimmich, recalling the play-offs against the Glasgow team and a lucky 0-0 draw in between in the top match at Bayer Leverkusen. “We scraped through, played a poor away game, which is exhausting, and we want to avoid that.”
“No one in the Bundesliga can complain about too many games”
Kimmich believes that the winter break in Germany could prove to be an advantage, even if it is short. “The fact that we have the winter break in Germany is a factor. I really enjoy playing and like to play a lot, but a winter break like this is good, I’m looking forward to it. You can switch off and recharge your batteries and then start the new year.”
Before that, Munich still has two Bundesliga games to play, at home against Mainz on Sunday and in Heidenheim the following Sunday. ” There’s a lot of talk about the workload, but we Germans can’t really join in that conversation. Of course, there are two more Champions League games,“ Kimmich explained, referring to the format since 2024/25, ”but otherwise, it hasn’t really increased over the past ten years.“
”We only have 18 clubs in the league, other countries have more, they may even have a second cup. Accordingly, no one in the Bundesliga can complain about too many games,” Kimmich argued against the fuss. Anyone who knows Kimmich knows that he will use the break and then push forward with even more energy to achieve FC Bayern’s goals. Being a little more rested than the international competition can’t hurt.
