Kompany praises young Bayern stars after 4-0 win and calls for calm around Karl | OneFootball

After Bayern Munich’s 4–0 victory over Club Brugge, head coach Vincent Kompany reflected on his team’s impressive display, praising the contribution of his young players - particularly Lennart Karl — while stressing the importance of calm development over hype.

Following Bayern’s dominant home performance, Kompany downplayed talk about his recent contract extension, choosing instead to focus on the night’s result. “The contract extension was agreed some time ago,” he said. “Today, the home match was important, and we showed a fantastic performance.”

The Belgian coach highlighted the impact of Bayern’s younger players, who played a key role in the 4-0 win. “Today the young players were very important and helped us a lot.” 

Kompany was also asked about his own performances when he was 17 to put those of his players now into perspective - he answered proudly and with a smile: “When I was 17, I was already playing in the Champions League and for the national team - a little flex,” he added with a laugh.

Kompany then turned his attention to Lennart Karl, who scored his first Champions League goal for the club. “He was great tonight and will get a lot of hype - but I’m not a fan of hype,” he explained. “I’m a fan of performance, education, and calm. All eyes are on him now, but he’ll need peace and time to keep developing. Today he showed he can already help us immediately.”

He also praised the versatility of Michael Olise and Karl in attack. “Olise and Karl can both play inside and out - that’s great for us,” Kompany said. “Olise gives us reliability on the wing; we can always count on him there. That’s why Karl played more centrally today, and he did it brilliantly. But he has to keep working hard if he wants to perform at the top level like Harry Kane does at 30.”

Looking ahead, Kompany acknowledged that Bayern’s path in the Champions League will only get tougher. “Our way to the next round isn’t easy - with PSG and Arsenal waiting, we face strong opponents. It’s not yet the decisive phase to win the competition, but we don’t want to stop now. We want to keep playing the way we have in recent weeks.”

Finally, the 39-year-old coach ended with a touch of humour regarding his own contract situation: “Hopefully all the other player contracts can be negotiated the same way mine was - quietly and successfully.”