DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Vincent Kompany faces his biggest challenge yet in his short stint as Bayern Munich coach. He says it’s time to learn.

Kompany’s Bayern was completely outplayed in the match 4-1 defeat against Barcelona on Wednesday when Raphinha punched holes in the backline to score a hat-trick. Kompany tried to respond in the second half with a quadruple substitution, but that had little impact.

Kompany told broadcaster DAZN that there could be “no excuses” and emphasized unity at a club that was notorious for its dressing room drama among its predecessors. “We will of course stick together and learn from this match,” he said.

It was part of a wider slump for German clubs in the Champions League this week. Borussia Dortmund conceded a 2-0 lead in the 5-2 defeat at Real Madrid, while the defeat to Liverpool left Leipzig without points so far.

Bayer Leverkusen appeared to have one eye on defending the Bundesliga title after eight changes in a 1-1 draw in Brestwhile Stuttgart was the only team with much to celebrate after beating Juventus.

In any case, the signs were there earlier for Bayern. Even after the high of a 9-2 defeat of Dinamo Zagreb last month, Harry Kane warned Bayern tended to lose focus and “against top opposition we could be punished for that.”

So it turned out.

“In the first half we had a period where we looked very dangerous, but Barcelona played well and we did not take advantage of the time when we were better. Then we were punished in transitions,” Kane said this week.

“We have to go away and learn from this. There was a moment where we looked dangerous, but maybe we got a little carried away by playing the last ball too quickly.”

Bayern remain top of the Bundesliga but have recorded one win from their last five games in all competitions – although that was impressive 4-0 over Stuttgart last week. Kompany’s team is expected to beat Bochum on Sunday, which is without a win and then has two coaches sharing the top job. Peter Zeidler was fired last week.

Still, Bochum’s loud, compact, old-fashioned stadium can be a tricky place to visit, as Bayern discovered in a 3-2 loss there in February.

The road problems in Dortmund are bad

The approach of Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin is also being scrutinized.

The loss at Real Madrid on Tuesday – after leading 2-0 – not only raised questions about Sahin’s tactical approach but also continued a worrying trend away from home.

The successive away losses to Madrid, Union Berlin and Stuttgart saw Dortmund concede a total of twelve goals, even as Dortmund maintained a perfect record of five wins from five at home under Sahin. Saturday’s trip to Augsburg in the Bundesliga is a chance for a valuable away win.

One tactical move brought particular criticism. When Sahin dropped attacking midfielder Jamie Gittens, scorer of Dortmund’s second goal, for defender Waldemar Anton in the 55th minute, Dortmund led Madrid 2–0. Seven minutes later it was 2-2.

“If you lose and concede five goals,” Sahin said, “you can of course say the system change was wrong.”

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