Vincent Kompany believes his team can handle the chaos after a thrilling nine-goal Champions League semifinal between Bayern Munich and PSG. Both teams are expected to continue their aggressive play in the second leg.
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Vincent Kompany wants 'more' as Bayern Munich, PSG embrace the chaos in Champions League semifinal originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
As the football world gasped and wheezed catching its breath after the nine-goal instant classic between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes last week, Vincent Kompany knew his side had plenty of air left in its lungs.
Surely this match was a fluke, right? Surely PSG and Bayern would head back to the Allianz Arena for the second leg of their Champions League semifinal knowing a more pragmatic approach would be more appropriate for such an occasion?
Not a chance.
Having watched the match in the French capital from a higher vantage point, suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Kompany spoke candidly about how he intends to approach the second leg, down 5-4 on aggregate.
MORE:Breaking down Vincent Kompany's tactics at Bayern Munich
"You only have two ways," Kompany told reporters after the game. "The first one is to go full, and the second one is to retreat fully. The in-between doesn't work against that level of players, the in-between doesn't work against our level of players."
The match ended with a dramatic nine-goal scoreline, showcasing an intense and chaotic game.
Vincent Kompany wants his team to embrace the chaos and continue playing aggressively in the upcoming matches.
Both teams are expected to maintain their aggressive strategies rather than adopting a more pragmatic approach.
The match is significant as it highlights the unpredictable nature of high-stakes football in the Champions League.
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As Kompany said himself seconds before, "the margins are so thin" in games of this calibre. If you deviate from your best style of play, it can cost you everything.
But the words that stood out most from the Bayern boss were what he said next. The journalist followed up with the natural response, asking Kompany, "Next week when you're back on the bench, what will be the fundamental message? Same again?"
Kompany thought for a moment, but couldn't hold his deepest, darkest desires back, allowing them to gush out in one glorious, radiant word.
"More."
It was at that moment that the former defender completed his transformation into Kylo Ren, screaming for all of the First Order's weaponry to descend upon his enemy in one focused, 90-minute volley.
Michael Olise celebrates scoring for Bayern Munich
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But more of what, exactly? Bayern Munich have already shattered the Bundesliga single-season goal scoring record of 100 in a season, up to 116 with two matches still to play. They scored four goals on the road in Paris against the reigning European champions, and probably could have had more.
There it is. More. Kompany wants more because that's what this Bayern Munich team, with Harry Kane and Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala and Luis Diaz were born to do. They were the better side over 90 minutes when Manuel Neuer conceded every shot on target, putting up 2.51 expected goals to PSG's 1.91. But Kompany believes they can do better.
Bayern Munich will not hold back for the second leg in Bavaria, but neither will Luis Enrique and PSG.
Like Kompany, the Spaniard also marvelled after the thriller in Paris, waxing lyrical about the beauty of football at its most vivacious, and anyone who dared to criticise him for this high-risk, high-reward aggression shall know he cares not for their wanton pragmatism.
“I believe that not all opinions should be respected, because if it is a s*** opinion, you shouldn't respect it," the PSG boss said after the match. "There will be people who like playing football this way, which is the majority, myself included. And others who don't like playing like this... I don't care about their opinions. What we showed is that the majority of people who love football enjoyed it, and that is what matters."
Few people have as much pure, unbridled fun surrounded by football as Luis Enrique. Known as an open-minded breath of fresh air, the PSG manager has implemented an aggressive high press that has railroaded nearly every European opponent it has engaged over the past 18 months.
The thing is, a quick analysis of how the PSG high press works draws the same conclusions as a similar breakdown of the way Bayern attack under Kompany: these two teams were built for this. Unrestricted aggression is what these two teams were constructed for, and any deviation from the plan causes the whole thing to fall apart spectacularly.
PSG are built to press opponents into oblivion. They have forwards who stretch the field out of possession, midfielders who work tirelessly to win the ball back, and defenders who excel at covering space when the press is broken. Scaling back that pressure ruins everything this team is constructed to do.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of PSG
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Just ask Luis Enrique, who tried to drop his team into a mid-block for the final 15 minutes against Bayern in the first leg to protect their 5-2 lead, and watched it come apart at the seams. You can be sure he won't make that mistake again.
While PSG are assembled to create high turnovers out of possession and turn them into attacking pressure, Bayern are conversely built to overwhelm opponents with their own buildup. Guardiola-disciple Kompany has at his disposal an all-out attack which believes the best defence is offense, and the best offense is more offense. Harry Kane loves to drop extremely deep in midfield to pick up the ball, before distributing it out wide to the stretched wingers. Without that freedom of movement, they are broken.
That is precisely why this Champions League semifinal matchup is so incredibly entertaining. It would be natural to think these two teams will look to draw in the reins for the second leg. They are, after all, playing for a spot in the Champions League final. They are, after all, coached by two former players who coveted pragmatism in their playing days — one former defender in Kompany and one former Swiss-Army Knife known for temperament and engine.
And yet, here we stand, bracing ourselves gleefully for a second high-scoring classic where caution is for the weak and fortune favours the bold, because these two teams have no other gear but maximum.
For Bayern Munich and PSG, less isn't more. Less is less, and more is more. Savour it, for this is football in its purest, most delightful form.