Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany was, quite naturally, disappointed about missing out on one of the best matches in Champions League history on Tuesday night. The nine-goal-thriller between his Bundesliga champions and PSG at the Parc des Princes proved a legendary affair that delivered far more than just goals.
Where was Kompany when – in the words of Britain’s Guardian newspaper – this “football spectacle played by demigods” unfolded? Sitting in the press box serving an accumulated yellow card suspension. FCB assistant coach Aaron Danks ran matters from the dugout. Kompany found himself reduced to being an observer.
Vincent Kompany on missing the UCL Blockbuster
“Well, it’s no fun,” Kompany told Prime Video before he got a chance to check in with his team in the locker room.“When two teams start a game with such mindset, this can happen. I had a feeling a game like this was in the cards. If you concede five goals on the road, it’s usually over, but we scored four and could certainly have scored two or three more in this game.”
“But we scored four goals away in Paris,” Kompany continued. “We can score goals, and we’ll be able to do that at home, too. The belief and the feeling are 100 percent there. We need our fans. We need support. There was such passion against Madrid. We just need 75,000 [at the Allianz Arena] from the farm ups onwards.“
“It was an absolute catastrophe,” Kompany added of his absence at the post-match press conference. “I didn’t enjoy this experience at all. Of course, I was allowed to have some contact with my coaching team. But that’s nothing compared to the emotion on the pitch.
“I could give my coaching team my opinion [on the match],” Kompany continued. “But, if the feeling close to the pitch is something else, I’m not the right decision maker because I’m not close to the affair.
“The team doesn’t just deserve credit for the comeback, but my staff as well,” Kompany concluded.“They were the ones who kept up the energy and mentality.I got a chance to enjoy this only a little bit from way up high.“
Kompany’s appeal to Bayern Munich fans
“I have one request [ahead of the return leg at the Allianz Arena next week],” Kompany said in another reference to the forthcoming home fixture in Munich next week. “If someone has bought a ticket and isn’t feeling well on the day of the match, please stay home and give your ticket to the fittest person they can find.
“We need the fittest people to deliver the full force of the Allianz Arena,” Kompany concluded. “All that’s required of us, Bayern Munich, is that we win the game. It’s not about 3-0, 4-0. Not yet. We just need to win the game [by one goal over 90 minutes and two goals over 120 minutes]. We need full support.”
GGFN | Peter Weis
