No Kane, no Olise: Kompany explains his starting XI against Leverkusen | OneFootball

After the 4-1 cup victory against 1. FC Köln, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany has set the rotation machine in motion. He explained his decisions in a TV interview before the match.

FC Bayern is starting the Bundesliga top match against Leverkusen with a lineup that has never played together before. The center-back duo in front of Manuel Neuer consists of Minjae Kim and Jonathan Tah, flanked by Tom Bischof and Konrad Laimer. In front of them, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich start. The attack is formed by Serge Gnabry, Raphaël Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson, and Lennart Karl.

This means that the previously undisputed attacking stars Luis Díaz, Michael Olise, and also Harry Kane—who has started every game this season—are missing, with Kane getting a well-deserved break.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany explained when asked why he initially put the attacking trio on the bench, at the Sky microphone: “Because it was clear that they couldn’t play 90 minutes again today. I prefer to have them come on and make an impact in the second half so that we are strong at the end.”

Kompany: “It’s not about rest”

Kompany continued: “The question ‘When will they get some rest?’ comes up every week. It’s not about rest now, but about when we can use them best. I believe it suits us better if they come on at the end.”

When asked whether the match against Paris Saint-Germain next Tuesday played a role in his choice of starting eleven, Kompany said: “It’s simply the schedule. Even six weeks ago, when I got the schedule, it was already clear that this particular game could be dangerous, also in terms of workload. It’s not because we want to rest the players, but we have to decide when they can have the most impact for us.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.