Vincent Kompany to miss ‘weeks, not days’ with virus treatment, say Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich expect their head coach, Vincent Kompany, to miss an extended period as he continues his hospital treatment for a virus after collapsing on the training pitch on Friday. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Bayern’s sporting director, Max Eberl, confirmed Kompany was still hospitalised in a “stable” condition.

Kompany’s English assistant coach Aaron Danks will replace the 40-year-old for Sunday’s Bundesliga match at Freiburg. Eberl told reporters “examinations were continuing” to determine the nature of the former Manchester City and Belgium captain’s condition, with a recovery timeframe yet to be determined.

“Vinnie will be given all the time he needs. We’re not starting to put together any timeframes. We need to firstly figure out what it is and then we’ll discuss calmly what recovery time is to be. We won’t be talking about days, but weeks. We need to all be clear on that.”

Taking Saturday’s press conference in Kompany’s absence, Danks said he had spoken with the former centre-back briefly on Friday but only to wish him well. “I explained to him that we wouldn’t be having no football conversations. It was just checking in on his health and making sure he’s OK.”

Danks added: “All the football operations are in our hands and we’ll work together as a team to keep the club moving forward.”

Bayern’s second team’s game was postponed on Friday after Kompany’s collapse but Eberl said the club did not consider trying to postpone Sunday’s Bundesliga game. “I think the greatest joy for Vinnie would be for us to play well tomorrow and, ideally, get a positive result,” Eberl said. “That would probably be one of the best things we could do to help him recover.”

Danks confirmed the Germany captain Joshua Kimmich, who has been on bereavement leave since Tuesday, would also miss Sunday’s game.

Kompany returned to the dugout for Wednesday’s home Champions League 2-2 draw with Arsenal despite missing the pre-match press conference due to the virus. Speaking after the Arsenal game, Kompany said his body reacted after he tried to push through the illness. “I caught a pretty nasty virus last week, and of course I didn’t listen to my body – and then at some point my body just said: ‘Enough is enough!’”

The defending champions sit on top of the Bundesliga table ahead of Sunday’s game, one point above Freiburg. Their next Champions League match is on 3 November in Spain against Atlético Madrid.