Coach Vincent Kompany will be missing from the Champions League semi-final first leg at Paris Saint-Germain due to suspension. His assistant coach Aaron Danks will represent him. The 42-year-old Brit works in a similar way to his boss – and is highly respected in the team.
During the final training session before departure to Paris on Monday, the eyes were not on the players or coach Vincent Kompany, but on his assistant coach Aaron Danks. The 42-year-old Englishman will replace the suspended Kompany in the Champions League semi-final first leg at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday (from 9 p.m. in the radio report and in the live ticker) represent.
Eberl about Danks: “Burns just like Vinnie”
For the man from Birmingham, it will be his third competitive appearance as a professional head coach. At Aston Villa he took over as interim coach for two games in 2022 after the dismissal of Steven Gerrard. “Danksy has experience. He’s already been on the sidelines in the Premier League,” Kompany has no doubts about his deputy. “I have 100 percent trust in the staff and everyone else too.”
Sports director Max Eberl also does not believe that Kompany’s absence will be a decisive weakening. “They all work very similarly in the coaching staff. (…) Everyone knows about the idea. Everyone knows what we want to implement defensively and offensively.” That’s why no one needs to get tips from Kompany, said Eberl before the flight to Paris on Tuesday. And when it comes to emotions, Danks seems to be in no way inferior to his boss. “He puts his heart and soul into the game. He’s just as passionate as Vinnie.”
Aaron Danks: The loud one Standard expert and Quizmaster
Danks has been coaching since he was 15 years old. After his time as a youth coach in Birmingham and at West Bromwich, he worked for a long time as an assistant in the English association’s youth teams. Jamal Musiala once made his debut under him with the “Young Three Lions”. He briefly worked with Kompany at RSC Anderlecht. In the summer of 2021 he was the Belgian’s assistant for a month.
In this short time he seemed to have made so much of an impression that Kompany brought him to Munich in the summer of 2024. At FC Bayern he is primarily responsible for the standard situations. “He has a loud role with his voice even in training,” says Kompany, describing his assistant coach. So there’s no need to worry that the stocky Danks, who has tattoos on both sides, won’t be able to make himself heard. During the final training session before Paris, he quickly organized a quiz, of course with football questions. The team that answered correctly got to try to score a goal. Danks is not lacking in creativity either.
Internship with Stephen Curry and Guardian of the Cockatoo
But Danks doesn’t just operate with volume. Under his leadership, Munich have significantly improved their free kicks and corners. “Danksy”, as everyone calls him, has learned a lot in his career – even outside of football. During his time with the English Association, the Brit sat in on the NBA. There he got an insight into the work at the Golden State Warriors around star player Stephen Curry. Danks is considered a meticulous worker who also plays another important role in the FC Bayern team.
He is the guardian of the cockatoo. The Porzellanvogel, who let the team accompany him to the championship celebrations in a luxury restaurant in Munich last yearis housed at Danks. From there he got his gig after winning the championship against Stuttgart. And if FC Bayern wins more titles this season, more celebrations with Kakadu are likely to follow. But for that to happen, the Munich team must first play the game in Paris’ Prinzenpark under Danks.
In the video: Locked company “too big for the laundry box”
League leadership and relegation battle, current fixtures, results and live ticker, top scorer lists, mileage and tackle statistics and much more: Football in the BR24Sport results center.
Source: BR24Sport April 27, 2026 – 4:30 p.m
