Vincent Kompany’s influence as coach is a key reason Bayern Munich is in the Champions League semifinals. Now Bayern will have to manage without him.
Bayern is preparing for arguably its toughest game of the season so far at Paris Saint-Germain with its head coach suspended and assistant Aaron Danks taking over. He’s well-regarded but has only been head coach in two Premier League games.
“Danksy has plenty of experience, was on the touchline for a while in England,” Kompany said. “I’ve got 100% confidence in the staff and everyone else.”
Kompany was still involved in training on Monday before Bayern’s departure for Paris, but he’ll be barred from the team’s locker room and bench at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.
Kompany ruled out copying Jose Mourinho’s notorious 2005 caper when the Portuguese coach hid in a washing basket to sneak into the locker room and speak with his Chelsea team while suspended for a game against Bayern. “I’m 1.92 meters (6-foot-3) tall. I can’t fit in a washing basket,” he said.
Harry Kane thinks Kompany’s absence will be felt. “We’ll miss him on the touchline. He’s our boss, a coach who’d love to be out there with us,” the striker said.
A costly yellow card
It’s all because Kompany was booked in Bayern’s thrilling quarterfinal win over Real Madrid for disputing the referee’s decision to allow Madrid to play on and score after a hard tackle on Bayern defender Josip Stanisic.
That was Kompany’s third yellow card in what was Bayern’s 12th Champions League game of the season. He argued UEFA should relax the rules now there are more games than ever.
“It’s an extended format and it’s the strictest-ever ruling with a lot of interpretation from referees, where sometimes you can get a yellow card wrong as well. So what happens then?” Kompany said after the game.
“I’m not happy because of this, but it’s not important. The team can do it and I’m there for the return game. I have total faith in the team, the staff, to not just continue but also gain strength and motivation out of it.”
PSG coach Luis Enrique praised Kompany’s work since arriving two years ago.
“Vincent Kompany is a coach of the highest level, Bayern is one of the teams I like to watch the most,” he said. “They’re very pretty to watch. I like all coaches but especially the attacking ones, and he is without doubt one of them.”
Danks on the biggest stage
Danks is one of Kompany’s three main assistants. The 42-year-old English coach is a set-piece specialist who oversaw two games for Aston Villa as caretaker coach in 2022, beating Brentford 4-0 then losing to Newcastle by the same score.
Preparations haven’t exactly been easy, either.
With the Bundesliga title wrapped up, Bayern hoped to rest key players against Mainz on Saturday, but Kompany had to bring on Kane, Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala after slipping 3-0 down before coming back to win 4-3.
Musiala meets PSG again
Musiala is facing PSG for the first time since his badly broken leg against the French team at last season’s Club World Cup.
The attacking midfielder didn’t return until January but has recently looked back on form with two goals and four assists in his last five games, including setting up Luis Diaz’s crucial third goal in the second game against Madrid.
Lennart Karl got his break in the Bayern team during Musiala’s injury absence but the 18-year-old is likely to miss Tuesday’s game with a muscle issue which has sidelined him for the last three weeks. Forward Serge Gnabry is out with a muscle tear that’s ruled him out of the World Cup, too.
A shot at double-triple
The Champions League isn’t just part of Bayern’s quest for a triple. An even rarer achievement is possible.
Bayern is in the hunt for a double-triple of league, cup and Champions League for both its men’s and women’s teams. The Bayern women have already won the German league, are in the final of the German Cup and are level with Barcelona at 1-1 in the Women’s Champions League semifinals.
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