Vincent Kompany destroys FIFA and UEFA after elimination in the Champions League

The return match of the Champions League quarterfinals between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich ended in a score of (2-2) at the San Siro stadium, allowing the Inter to qualify for the semi-finals thanks to a cumulative victory of (4-3). Despite an opening of the scoring by Harry Kane, who thus equalized the overall score at 2-2, the Inter quickly resumed the advantage with goals of Lautaro Martínez and Benjamin Pavard on set kicks. Eric Dier reduced the gap for Bayern, but the efforts of the Bavarians were not enough to reverse the trend. Bayern, although dominating in possession and occasions, was penalized by key absences, especially those of Manuel Neuer, Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano, and by a lack of bench depth. Inter Milan, led by Simone Inzaghi, has demonstrated great resilience and formidable efficiency, through the performance of Lautaro Martínez, who scored his 150th goal for the club. The Italian defense, led by Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni, was able to contain Munich assaults.

Despite an attempt to return at the end of the match, Bayern failed to materialize its opportunities, including a shot from the head of Thomas Müller stopped by Yann Sommer and a missed opportunity by Kingsley Coman. The Inter will face FC Barcelona in the semi-finals, while Bayern will have to learn from this elimination to bounce back next season. At a press conference, the Belgian coach first wanted to pay tribute to Inter Milan and analyze the double confrontation in broad outline: “Today, we were very positive: supporters' support was great. It all started as we wanted, then there were two moments, and we must recognize the qualities of Inter, where we should have done better. We have had many goal opportunities, more than Inter. I have mixed feelings: the harsh reality is that we will not play the final of the Champions League at home, we cannot change anything. The other aspect is performance: we know that we have done what is necessary to win these games». But the traditional press point took a special turn thereafter.

Kompany destroys the FIFA calendar!

Bayern Munich was particularly affected by injuries this season, which has greatly impacted its performance, especially in the Champions League. The absence of key defenders like Dayot Upamecano, Alphonso Davies and Hiroki Ito weakened the team's defensive solidity, forcing Vincent Kompany to compose with makeshift solutions. In the middle, the recurring physical seeds of Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich unbalanced the midfield, while in attack, players like Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry were regularly unavailable. This cascade of injuries has not only complicated the management of the workforce, but it also slowed down cohesion and automatisms of the Bavarian collective: “I think the big problem, before Inter, was injuries. We had to understand what we could do without Ito, Upamecano, Musiala, Neuer, Davies, Coman, Pavlovic. I think that in the first game, we showed a good Bayern: I'm not talking about the result. In the second match, also in Milan, we posted a positive attitude“Said Vincent Kompany. If the subject has somewhat packed over the season, the debate around the overloaded calendar imposed by UEFA and FIFA caused a lot of ink at the start of the season. We remember the declarations of Jules Koundé, Pep Guardiola, Aurélien Tchouameni, Thibaut Courtois or Rodri.

These positions reflect an increasing concern within the football community concerning the health and well-being of the players in the face of an increasingly loaded calendar. Vincent Kompany was quick to put the subject back on the table: “Unfortunately, it is not me who decides. To the many matches are added long trips and pressure increases with defections. This is our case: we were decimated this evening, at such an important stage in the competition. This is a point that deserves to be discussed and evaluated, but for the moment, I don't know what to add. There will still be a lot of Champions League games in Munich, in two months, we will play the first match of the Club World Cup and, in the meantime, we will try to win the Bundesliga. There is a lot of work to do». The FIFPro, which has pleaded for years to lighten the pace imposed on players, surveyed 1,500 professionals. Result: more than one in two has played more than 55 games in one season, almost a third chained six consecutive games, and a player who participated in the euro and European competitions had only 12 % free time over the year.