Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany bewildered by new Champions League format
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Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany celebrates with his team after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
MUNICH – Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany admitted that he had yet to fully understand how the new Champions League format worked, after his team earned a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Nov 26 to improve their chances of reaching the knockout stage.
The German giants needed a first-half goal from South Korean defender Kim Min-jae to battle past 10-man PSG and claim a third win in five matches in Europe’s elite club competition.
“I don’t look at the table because, honestly, I don’t yet understand it,” Kompany told a press conference. “It will look good if we win a few more matches.”
The Bavarians climbed to 11th with nine points from five games, a point off the top eight places that bring automatic qualification for the last 16. This was before the round of fixtures on Nov 27.
PSG are 26th on four points, outside the play-off spots with three matches remaining in the first phase.
In the new 36-team league format this season, teams face eight teams instead of meeting three opponents twice. They play half of those games at home and half away.
The top eight sides advance directly to the last 16, while those finishing ninth to 24th enter a two-legged play-off for a chance to secure a spot in the next stage.
“What’s important is to reach our goal,” added Kompany, who is in his first season in charge at Bayern. “If we win our remaining games, we have a chance to make the top eight.
“I’m obviously happy. Our pressing in the first half was very good. The discipline was there. We could have scored perhaps one or two more goals, but the result is good.
“We are on the right track but working to become even better.”
Things are not as rosy in the PSG camp, as coach Luis Enrique and his players did not hold back on their displeasure with the result.
But Goncalo Ramos insisted it was “not the end” of their Champions League campaign.
The forward, who made his return off the bench after injury, said the French champions were “not afraid of anything” and still confident of making it to the next round.
“We are all disappointed but there’s nothing more we can do today,” he said.
“We are focused on the next game and we can still go to the next round and we are focused on that.
“We will keep working. It’s not the end of the Champions League for us.”
PSG’s hopes of fighting their way back into the match were dashed when Ousmane Dembele was sent off after picking up a second yellow with over half an hour remaining for an unnecessary challenge on Bayern’s Alphonso Davies.
But with the match over, they will next look ahead to a visit by English champions Manchester City, who are looking to get out of a form slump, which is sandwiched between tricky away trips to Red Bull Salzburg and Stuttgart.
“We gave a bad impression, a bad impression from the first minute,” Enrique told PSG TV.
“Bayern Munich were superior to us in the first half... we thought we had chances and I think the start of the second half was better. But after Ousmane was sent off, we suffered.”
Midfielder Joao Neves, like Ramos, said his side were on the right track.
“The most important thing is that we play our football,” the Portugal international said. “We are sure that is the best way to get through this stage and we will stay the same team from the beginning to the end.
“We will stick together, nobody will point fingers at each other.” AFP, REUTERS