Kompany out for weeks as Bayern and Dortmund meet level on 17 points

Bayern Munich will be without head coach Vincent Kompany for weeks rather than days, sporting director Max Eberl has said, leaving assistant Aaron Danks in charge for Wednesday's DFB-Pokal tie against Magdeburg and, according to Sky, probably for Saturday's Klassiker with Borussia Dortmund. The two clubs are level at the top of the Bundesliga on 17 points.

Kompany, 40, collapsed on Friday afternoon at the club's Säbener Straße training ground while watching the under-23 side train, and was taken to hospital by ambulance. The club has not given a diagnosis. "We won't be talking about days, but weeks. That's clear to all of us," Eberl said, according to Abendzeitung München, which also reported that he visited Kompany on Saturday. "He will get all the time," Eberl added. On Sunday Eberl said there was still no final diagnosis; Kompany no longer has headaches, sport.de reported.

Level at the top

Bayern and Dortmund have identical records after seven matchdays: five wins, two draws and no defeats. Bayern lead only on goal difference, +19 (25 scored, 6 conceded) against Dortmund's +8 (12 scored, 4 conceded). Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen are four points behind on 13, with RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen on 12.

Both leaders won on matchday 7. Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 on Saturday through Maximilian Beier's 80th-minute goal, and Bayern won 3-1 at Freiburg on Sunday with Danks on the touchline, with Dayot Upamecano, Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise on the scoresheet.

Danks and the staff in charge

Eberl ruled out promoting under-23 coach Dante to the first-team coaching staff. Danks and fellow assistants René Marić, Floribert N'Galula and Daniel Fradley will run the team until Kompany returns, sport.de reported; Danks said Kompany sent him a congratulatory text after the win in Freiburg.

Sky reporter Florian Plettenberg expects the absence to run beyond this week. "There is currently no fixed date for his return. But it is clear that he will miss the next games for now," he said. Sky's Plettenberg said Kompany is to use the international break that follows the Mainz game on 7 November to recover further; fcbinside, relaying Sky, expects him to miss Magdeburg, Dortmund, the Champions League trip to Atlético Madrid on 3 November and Mainz as well. Bayern's first match after the break is at home to Köln on 20 November.

The fixtures ahead

Bayern host second-division Magdeburg in the cup's second round on Wednesday (20:45 CET), then Dortmund at the Allianz Arena on Saturday (18:30 CET). The chasers play earlier that day: Freiburg visit Augsburg, Leverkusen host Stuttgart and Bremen host Hoffenheim, all at 15:30, so a win for Freiburg or Leverkusen and a draw in Munich would cut their gap to the top two to two points.

A thin Bayern squad

The coach is not Bayern's only absentee. Luis Díaz is out with a muscle bundle tear suffered against Arsenal, and Joshua Kimmich misses the cup tie after a bereavement in his close family; German media expect him back against Dortmund, dpa reported. Aleksandar Pavlović and Minjae Kim, who both missed Freiburg, trained individually on Monday. "With Minjae and Aleks we know they are a step further. We'll see," Danks said. Captain Manuel Neuer, troubled by his foot, and Jamal Musiala, recovering from a muscle fibre tear, are further away: "For Manuel Neuer and Jamal Musiala it's still a bit too early," Danks said. If Neuer misses out again, Jonas Urbig stays in goal.