Bayern coach Kompany out for weeks after collapse, Danks takes charge

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany will be out for weeks after collapsing on Friday while he watched the club's reserve team train, sporting director Max Eberl has said. The 40-year-old Belgian is in a stable condition in hospital, where tests to find the cause were continuing, and his assistant Aaron Danks now runs the first team, starting with Sunday's Bundesliga trip to Freiburg.

A week of illness

Kompany had been fighting a virus for several days before the collapse. He skipped the news conference ahead of Wednesday's Champions League meeting with Arsenal, which Danks took in his place, yet still stood on the touchline for the 2-2 draw in Munich. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, German journalist Taufig Khalil traced the first signs back to Bayern's game against Leipzig the previous Saturday. A helicopter landed at the training ground on Friday, Khalil added, but Kompany was taken to hospital by road.

Out for weeks

Eberl refused to put a date on his return. "We won't be talking about days, but weeks. We need to all be clear on that," he said. He also wondered aloud whether the club "should have put the brakes on him earlier", and promised that Bayern would "continue to try, even more than before, to protect him from himself." The club had considered asking for the Freiburg game to be postponed before deciding to play.

Danks said he spoke to Kompany in hospital and that they had no football conversations, only a check on his health. "All the football operations are in our hands and we'll work together as a team to keep the club moving forward," he said. Honorary president Uli Hoeness visited on Saturday, according to Bild, and Dortmund coach Niko Kovac, whose side face Bayern next weekend, said Kompany "needs the time".

Where Bayern stand in Europe

The absence comes with Bayern in a crowded part of the league-phase table. Their one win and two draws, including the 2-2 with Arsenal, leave them 14th on five points from three games, with ten goals scored and five conceded. That is four points behind the five clubs who have won all three, led by holders Paris Saint-Germain, and two behind Arsenal and Stuttgart. The top eight go straight to the last 16.

Kompany joined Bayern from Burnley in May 2024 and has won the Bundesliga in both of his full seasons. Last season he took them to the Champions League semi-finals, where they lost to PSG, the eventual winners. Manchester City, where he played for 11 years, and Burnley were among the clubs to send messages of support.