Few people in world football understand Bayern Munich quite like Samuel Kuffour. The Ghanaian centre-back spent the best years of his career at the Allianz Arena, winning five Bundesliga titles, two DFB-Pokals and the UEFA Champions League in 2001.
For over a decade, he was the heartbeat of one of the most formidable defences in European football, training alongside and absorbing the mentality of German football giants at their very best.
Now 49 and one of Bayern's most cherished legends, Kuffour has been watching the 2025/26 season with growing excitement. His former club sit on the cusp of a potential treble; Bundesliga title retained, DFB-Pokal final to come, and a Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Kuffour - 'This is our year'
Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, two of Europe's most in-form clubs, renew their acquaintances in the Champions League semi-finals after Bayern beat the French champions in the group stage earlier this season.
PSG, who lifted the Champions League last season under Luis Enrique, arrive as the defending champions and a formidable force. Bayern arrive as the red-hot favourites domestically.
Kuffour is in no doubt about which side he is backing.
"Of course Bayern can win the Champions League. I think this is our year," he told Flashscore.
"Champions League has become so critical, so difficult, that when you get to the last four, everything is possible. And the game against Paris, I will not sit here and say we're going to have it on the silver platter. They are a good side. They won it last season. We beat them this season. So these two games is going to define how strong Bayern Munich is mentally."
Kompany has opened the door for black coaches
Bayern's playing identity this season has been breathtaking, and much of the credit belongs to one man. Vincent Kompany, the former Manchester City captain turned head coach, has transformed Bayern into one of the most watchable sides in Europe.
Back-to-back Bundesliga titles. A DFB-Pokal final to come. A Champions League semi-final. The Belgian is delivering on every front, and the football world is beginning to take notice in the most emphatic way.
Kuffour has been watching closely, and his admiration is genuine and deep-rooted.
"He won the league. He went out last year in the quarterfinal against Real Madrid of the Champions League. Now he's into the semi-final."
"He's the first black coach to train in Germany and is also coaching one of the top clubs in the world. He's doing so well, and the way they are playing football, it's amazing," Kuffour added.
The comparisons being drawn in football circles have not been lost on the Bayern legend either.
"Everybody's saying, wow, is this Pep Guardiola? Is this Johan Cruyff? He has adopted and learned from certain things. Guardiola made a very big impact for Kompany to get into Bayern Munich. They contacted Pep, and he advised them to give Kompany the job."
Kompany's success resonates with Kuffour on a deeply personal level as a Black man who built his own legacy in the Bundesliga at a time when representation in the dugout was virtually non-existent.
"Right now, he is one of the top coaches in the world. He has opened so many doors for Black coaches. And he's young."
Germany's lost mentality
The conversation turns to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a tournament that Germany will approach as one of the most successful nations in the competition's history, with four world titles and eight finals to their name.
Julian Nagelsmann's side are among the contenders, backed by the talents of Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala and the expectation that comes with the German shirt.
But for Kuffour, something fundamental has shifted in the DNA of German football and it has been shifting for some time.
"When you go to Germany, there's only one thing that you have to learn and that's the mentality. Not to lose."
"I've seen great players. I was watching Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus, play in the 1990 World Cup. Training with them, their mentality was different. If Lothar Matthaus lost in training, you see he'd go crazy. After training, you go to the dressing room, you start throwing things here and there, and nobody says anything. It's allowed. Because the mentality is that you don't need to lose," he added.
That edge, Kuffour believes, is gone. And without it, Germany's World Cup ambitions will fall short.
"I don't think Germany will win the World Cup because they are not up there yet. The momentum, the mentality, everything has dropped," he said plainly.
