Vincent Kompany believes he must "prove myself all over again" ahead of Bayern Munich's Bundesliga opener against Stuttgart on Friday.

Bayern cruised to the Bundesliga title last season, finishing 16 points clear of second-place Borussia Dortmund, while also winning the DFB-Pokal.

They scored a competition record 122 goals, while Kompany became the fourth manager to win the Bundesliga in each of his first two seasons.

Bayern have also started 2026-27 with some silverware, defeating rivals Dortmund 2-1 in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup last weekend, with Nathaniel Brown and Michael Olise getting on the scoresheet.

Despite their recent trophy haul, Kompany is not resting on his laurels ahead of the new season.

"The feeling is exactly the same as the first time. I always hold on to the belief that we can be successful in the end," said Kompany.

"But you're never certain – and that gives you energy too. You have to start afresh.

"In my mind, I've won zero trophies; I have to prove myself all over again. That gives me a lot of energy.

"The match against Stuttgart will be tough; it's a new season, and there are new opportunities. That's what gives us that edge in pre-season. I'm looking forward to the new campaign.

"It all starts from scratch again, at least in my mind. It's not my job to start assigning places just yet.

"I hope we'll be just as strong as last season and even improve in some areas. We've already experienced a strong Dortmund side; we'll see how Stuttgart measure up.

"Dortmund will be very solid, and I wouldn't be surprised if Stuttgart manage that too."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bayern Munich – Harry Kane

Harry Kane has scored 98 goals in 94 Bundesliga games – the record for the fewest games to reach 100 Bundesliga goals is held by Dieter Muller (129).

Kane has scored 14 goals in just eight competitive matches against Stuttgart, including three hat-tricks (most recently in the DFB-Pokal final in a 3-0 win) – he has not scored three or more goals against any other club as often for Tottenham and Bayern.

Stuttgart – Deniz Undav

Deniz Undav was the second-best goalscorer in the Bundesliga last season with 19 goals, behind only Kane (36).

None of Undav's 19 goals were penalties – only Kane (26) and Manchester City's Erling Haaland (24) scored more non-penalty goals than the Stuttgart forward across Europe's top five leagues in 2025-26.

MATCH PREDICTION: BAYERN MUNICH WIN

Bayern have won 88 of their 132 competitive matches against Stuttgart since the Bundesliga's inception (D22 L22); no other team have celebrated as many victories against a single opponent in German professional football.

Last season, Bayern won all four of their competitive matches against Stuttgart, most recently with that 3-0 victory in the DFB-Pokal final.

The reigning German champions have remained unbeaten on the opening matchday of the Bundesliga in the last 24 seasons (W19 D5) – Bayern last lost 0-1 away at Borussia Monchengladbach in 2001.

Bayern themselves have remained unbeaten in their opening match in 14 consecutive seasons since a 0-1 home defeat to Gladbach in August 2011 (W12 D2) – an ongoing Bundesliga record.

Stuttgart are the only team to have started the Bundesliga season with a defeat in both 2024-25 (1-3 at Freiburg) and 2025-26 (1-2 at Union Berlin). They have won their first away game of a Bundesliga season in just one of the last 15 campaigns (D3 L11).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Bayern Munich – 70.6%

Draw – 16.7%

Stuttgart – 12.7%