Before FC Bayern against PSG: At Kompany “inner calm prevails”

Against PSG in the new home jersey

Vincent Kompany stunned 30 hours before the showdown with Paris Saint-Germain for the longed-for Champions League final. Increased heart rate? Total tension? Nothing there. “Inner calm prevails for me. I try not to let the emotions of the game play a role too early,” reported the Bayern coach. And he revealed: “I’m already thinking about what the last sentence could be to motivate the team again.”

Ring free, round two. All football lovers are waiting in anticipation for the ultimate exchange of blows between the two full-throttle teams in the semi-final second leg this Wednesday (9 p.m./DAZN). “Now it starts. Now it’s crunch time. It’s a big game. We’re all very excited about the game and ready to give everything,” announced national player Jonathan Tah.

The conspiratorial Munich master ensemble wants to overthrow defending champions PSG from Europe’s throne with all their might. Also with the help of the fans in the Allianz Arena, which was sold out with 75,000 spectators. Like in the crazy 4:3 in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid, they should be the twelfth man again. “Everyone in red” is the dress code. In keeping with this, Harry Kane and Co. will also be wearing the bright red, new home jersey for the coming season for the first time. “We are here at the end of the season. And we have already experienced so many incredible moments. Together with the fans, we want to make this evening unforgettable,” said Kompany.

Round one went to PSG with successful coach Luis Enrique in the 5-4 spectacle in France a week ago. Now it will be decided in the final before the final on May 30th in Budapest in a seething Allianz Arena bathed in red. In 90 minutes? After 120 minutes? Or even in a dramatic penalty shootout?

Can the nine-goal madness from the Prinzenpark even be topped again by the fantastic storm line around Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz on the Munich side as well as Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desiré Doué at PSG? These attackers scored seven of the nine goals in the first leg. Sports director Max Eberl called the offensive festival “perversely awesome.”

Bayern coach Kompany: Don’t lose what makes us strong

Everyone wants another thrilling, intense, fast-paced duel between two collectives whose DNA is based on an uncompromising offensive style. The new coaching star Kompany and the highly decorated Champions League winner Luis Enrique are unlikely to back down and betray their philosophy.

“Who should take a step back?” Kompany asked. “We use the resources we have. It’s nothing more. The only thing is that this football is the belief that it suits the team and that’s how we win. I’d like to keep a clean sheet. But what shouldn’t happen is that we lose something that makes us strong.” Enrique wouldn’t put it any other way. The Munich Arena is also a place of happiness for PSG: in 2025, the French rolled over Inter Milan 5-0 with their offensive power in the final.

The giant duel could prove that the pure desire to attack can also bring you titles. “That’s what makes football – the offense,” said Eberl about the spectacle factor. “We can have other games in which the defense dominates and they end 1-0 with a corner goal.”

For the former world-class defender Kompany, “what happened in Paris was completely logical. I would also like to keep a clean sheet. That’s always a goal of ours.” And the 40-year-old recalled that they had achieved that brilliantly recently with a 2-0 win in the cup semi-final in Leverkusen.

Then followed Kompany’s big but: “There is no reason why PSG should change anything that made them the best team in Europe last year. And we came into this duel as the team that has scored the most goals and won the most games in Europe.”

Bayern’s hopes rest on the furious attacking trio Kane (54 goals), Díaz (26) and Olise (21), who have scored an incredible 101 goals in 51 games this season. Paris and Bayern are the teams with the most goals this premier class season with 43 and 42 goals respectively. So: full throttle into the final!

Can controlled offense be a solution? These two pressing machines usually do not allow the opponent any rest periods. A rethinking of “safety first” seems absurd. “Our style of play got us to where we are,” said defender Tah. “We won’t hide behind,” said clockmaker Joshua Kimmich. He referred to the rising situation. “We’re one goal behind. We’re the team that definitely needs a goal.”

Hakimi loss handicap for PSG

A 1:0, 2:1, 3:2 or another 5:4 would mean extra time. If that happens, it could be an advantage for Bayern. In Paris, the Kompany team were 2:5 behind, but had more trouble in the end and still came close. Paris also has a handicap: former Dortmund player Achraf Hakimi is out injured. The 20-year-old Warren Zaïre-Emery could be the emergency solution at right back – against Díaz, who was already outstanding in Paris.

It is also clear that the score influences the dynamics on the pitch much more in the second leg than in the first leg. At kick-off, PSG is through. Bayern have to play to win – Paris can rely on their turbo switching game with the high-speed strikers Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia and Doué.

“PSG is a good counterattacking team – and we already experienced that against Real,” warned captain Manuel Neuer. Madrid were ahead three times in the quarterfinals in Munich. Can the 40-year-old Neuer, who was powerless to concede all five goals in Paris, become an X-factor in the second leg?

With the exception of national player Serge Gnabry, “everyone is fit and there,” Kompany announced. “And you need that in a game like this.” The recently injured Lennart Karl and Raphaël Guerreiro were also there again in the final training session on Säbener Strasse – at least in the part that was open to the media. They give Kompany more substitution options.

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