Bayern: Kompany will miss weeks, not days — coach remains in hospital after collapsing at training

Kompany remains in hospital

Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany is continuing his treatment in hospital after collapsing on the training pitch on Friday. According to AFP, the 40-year-old is battling a virus. At a press conference on Saturday, the club's sporting director Max Eberl confirmed that Kompany is still hospitalised and his condition is 'stable'. According to Eberl, examinations are ongoing to determine the nature of the coach's condition, and the recovery timeline has not yet been set.

'We will be talking about weeks, not days'

Eberl stressed that the club will not rush the coach's return: 'Vinny will get all the time he needs. We are not starting to set any timelines. First we need to understand what this is, and then calmly discuss the recovery period. We will be talking not about days, but about weeks. All of us need to understand that.' Kompany's assistant Aaron Danks, who led the press conference in the head coach's absence, said he had spoken to him briefly on Friday, but only to wish him a recovery: 'I told him that we would not be discussing football. It was only about his health. All football matters are in our hands, and we will work as a team to keep the club moving forward.'

The Freiburg match and squad problems

Danks will lead the team in Sunday's Bundesliga away match against Freiburg. Bayern's second-team game the day before was postponed due to Kompany's collapse, but according to Eberl, the club did not consider postponing the Bundesliga match: 'I think the greatest joy for Vinny would be if we played well tomorrow and, ideally, got a positive result.' The team, however, goes into the game weakened: captain Manuel Neuer was withdrawn from the squad on Saturday due to a foot problem, joining the injured Jamal Musiala, Min-jae Kim and Luis Díaz. In addition, as Danks announced, Germany national team captain Joshua Kimmich, who has been on leave since Tuesday following the death of a close relative, will also miss the match.

Kompany had previously tried to work through the illness

Kompany returned to the bench on Wednesday in the home match against Arsenal, even though he had missed the pre-match press conference due to the virus. After that game he said his body had reacted after he tried to work through the illness: 'I caught a rather nasty virus last week, and of course I didn't listen to my body — and at some point my body simply said: enough.' The defending champions top the Bundesliga table ahead of Sunday's game, one point clear of Freiburg. Bayern's next Champions League match is on 3 November in Madrid against Atlético. Editorial note: the available information does not indicate whether Kompany will miss that match — the club is deliberately not naming a recovery timeline.

Why this matters

The situation affects the Bundesliga leader at a key stage of the season: the coming weeks include the match against Freiburg, which directly affects the standings, and the away Champions League game against Atlético on 3 November. In practical terms, this means that the team — already without Neuer, Kimmich, Musiala, Kim and Díaz — will play under interim coach Danks with no clarity on when the head coach will return.