The only downside to Michael Olise’s incredible performance in Bayern Munich’s 6-1 win over Atalanta in Bergamo in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie was the yellow card he received that will cause him to miss the return leg in Munich. He grabbed a brace and an assist in what was well and truly a thoroughly comprehensive victory of the Serie A side by the German Rekordmeister in a personal performance that saw him collect yet another man of the match trophy from UEFA.
There was
some speculation that Olise’s yellow card for time wasting in the Atalanta win, and likewise Joshua Kimmich’s, was intentional to get a rest for the second leg, but UEFA has confirmed that they will not take any further action against either player as there’s no evidence to support the speculation. Thankfully for Vincent Kompany, he’ll have the proper depth in the squad to replace both Olise and Kimmich for the return leg at the Allianz Arena, but in the press conference ahead of the Bayer Leverkusen clash in the Bundesliga, he took time to explain how much of an irreplaceable type of player Olise is.
“We’ve won both games without him so far. You can never replace a player of his quality like-for-like. We play a little bit differently, we replace him with other players. Michael has been available for over 18 months, it’s incredible. He’s very important for us, he’s done a lot for us, physically as well. I hope he remains available; what he’s achieved recently has been fantastic. Michael had his fair share of injuries at Crystal Palace. But what he does for his health off the pitch at his young age is incredible. If he keeps doing things like this, he’ll stay fit for a long time. He’ll continue to develop strongly,” Kompany stressed when he was asked about Olise’s suspension for next week’s Atalanta second leg (via @iMiaSanMia).
While Bayern does have a number of key injuries in the squad, solving the Olise void vs. Atalanta shouldn’t be too difficult. He could opt to start one of Lennart Karl, Serge Gnabry or Jamal Musiala in his spot unless he even decides to go with a younger, more fringe player in the squad.
