Kompany: Aston Villa Friendly Will Be Very Useful for Bayern, Champions League is the Goal for the New Season

Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany addressed the media in Hong Kong ahead of tomorrow's friendly match against Aston Villa.

The Belgian was quick to praise their opponents: “Aston Villa is a top team with a very good coach. They have a large squad and will field many talented players. They’ve already played more friendly matches than us, but for us, this is a good challenge. It’s a match where we will learn a lot about our team’s physical condition. It will be a good game for us.”

He then continued regarding his expectations for the new campaign: “It’s difficult to improve on last season, not just in terms of the trophies we won, but also the number of goals and matches we won. It’s possible, but it’s tough. Right now, I would say our goal is to win the Champions League; there’s no doubt about that. And throughout the season, I will say that we need to focus on the next game. To achieve that – to win the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, and the Champions League – we need the entire squad to be fit and healthy. We need to capitalize on them and improve the squad. We’ve already done that, but we hope it will help us achieve our goals.

Regarding the goalkeeper situation, the Bayern coach was unequivocal: “Manu (Neuer) will start tomorrow and will be captain. He is our number one, I like to be clear. But we also value Jonas Urbig. We want his improvement and development to continue. He played in a cup final against Stuttgart and in important Champions League matches. The goal – and this is not surprising – is to give him playing time. When and how, we will see; the season will decide.”

On the current scandals involving FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Kompany responded succinctly: “I definitely have a strong opinion. But since pre-season began, that hasn’t been my focus. I don’t have time to read newspapers. For now, it’s not my concern, but if there’s a lot of talk and discussion, it means something is happening. I don’t want to just express an opinion. I want to investigate the case more thoroughly before saying anything.”

Former Manchester City captain Kompany also drew an interesting comparison between the Premier League and the Bundesliga: "Many of these comparisons between leagues are clear; you have to look at the financial resources. The Premier League has the most financial resources, which is why it's the best league in the world. For me, I would say the Bundesliga is second. Because if you look at the talent: the Premier League has the most because you can buy a lot of talent with a lot of money. But the Bundesliga also has other things: a powerful fan culture and many talented players who emerge at every club. The Premier League has the advantage right now, but the Bundesliga is the second best; it's very exciting, with many good players and good teams."