Kompany highlights importance of Bayern’s Champions League win over PSG
Bayern Munich moved to the top of the Champions League table after they beat reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Tuesday.
Vincent Kompany believes Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain was “really important” for their Champions League campaign.
Luis Diaz scored twice for the Bundesliga side before being sent off for a rash challenge on Achraf Hakimi, while Joao Neves could not spark a comeback with his second-half strike.
Diaz became the first player to score twice and be sent off in the first half of a Champions League match, and just the second player overall after Antoine Griezmann versus Liverpool in October 2021.
Bayern were forced into a defensive shape due to their numerical disadvantage, which saw them have just 29% of possession, their lowest on record (since 2003-04) in a single Champions League game.
PSG registered 25 shots in the French capital, the most Bayern have faced in a Champions League group stage game since October 2006 (25 vs Sporting CP).
Kompany took pride in his side’s defensive resilience, particularly as it came against the holders of the competition.
“The most important thing is we hope that [Achraf] Hakimi recovers quickly,” said Kompany after the win.
“It was hard work and emotions today – those are the feelings we had after the game. In the end, we did it together.
“We obviously would’ve liked to have kept playing in the second half like we’d done in the first, but you get games where things change through situations like the red card.
“I also want us to enjoy it when we have to defend. We work on it a lot in training. That’s why it didn’t surprise me that we did it well.
“The first half was really pleasing. In the second half we had to play differently.
“We know that the Champions League isn’t decided yet, but today was a really important three points for us.”
Bayern have now extended their winning run in all competitions to 16 matches, with a trip to Union Berlin next on their schedule.
Their next Champions League match is against second-place Arsenal, who are yet to concede in the competition this season.
