After Bergamo is before Berlin and Bundesliga-free: Vincent Kompany on the upcoming break and hope at FC Bayern
The worst week and a half of the year now awaits Vincent Kompany and his colleagues, starting on Monday approximately. Full of uncertainty and anxiety and nervous switching back and forth between the international matches of their own protégés, who for God’s sake must not get injured before the most important phase of the season.
Almost exactly a year ago, Kompany had lost players left and right, and in the quarter-final against Inter Milan there was suddenly no Alphonso Davies or Dayot Upamecano. And Raphael Guerreiro on the ten. Which, of course, is nothing against Raphael Guerreiro, but Guerreiro is no Jamal Musiala or Serge Gnabry.
As well as Bayern have just sold themselves twice against Dortmund shockers Atalanta (without Musiala and with Guerreiro on ten in the second leg!), Kompany will now be hoping that nothing goes wrong between now and the first leg in Madrid in around three weeks’ time.
The Bundesliga will be played twice before then, but even FC Bayern’s coach, who thinks from game to game, is likely to have the Bernabeu in the back of his mind at all times – without ever admitting it. Because now that the duty (championship) is over, it’s time for the freestyle (cup, Champions League). And all the good performances and upcoming goal records should of course also be gilded.
Playmaker Musiala, for example, wants to help if possible, but the dribbling artist is still dependent on individual training after a pain reaction in his ankle. “He should be able to carry on until the World Cup when he returns,” says Kompany about his number 10 and doesn’t want to put any pressure on him. “I’m not worried at all, but it’s a process that takes a bit of time.”
The coach may only be a little worried about the coming week, as sporting director Max Eberl and CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen had already expressed their unease on Wednesday with regard to the international break. “I understand Max and Jan’s feeling,” said Kompany with a grin. “Christoph (Freund) and I high-fived last year: ‘Top, everyone’s fit, now we can have a bit of a break for a week and then we’ll really get going!”
And then suddenly all kinds of regular players were missing, which even led to the threat of a lawsuit. “Of course, we can’t control that ourselves,” says Kompany, who can only watch and hope, but: “There’s a big difference compared to last year.” A not insignificant one: “Last year, they were all competitive games.” The Nations League was on the agenda, both in Europe and in Canada. “Now it’s almost all friendlies. Many coaches have already decided that the boys probably won’t play two games, which changes a lot… That’s why I hope everything goes well for us now.”
