After Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain played out a scintillating nine-goal thriller last week, narratives focused on the English Premier League and why teams like Arsenal are unable to produce similar performances every week. Mikel Arteta decided to blame the respective team’s domestic leagues for the gulf in quality.
Vincent Kompany has since responded to the comments, speaking with the media ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg.
“I don’t want to comment much on that,” the Belgian
said initially, when asked about what Arteta said (via @iMiaSanMia). “I played in the Premier League for many years. I don’t think it was meant as a criticism of Bayern or PSG, but rather a discussion.”
“In England, you have 38 league games, the league cup, FA Cup, no winter break,” Kompany noted. “It’s not for me to discuss that, but it’s legitimate. Jürgen Klopp spoke about that many times too.”
It is a succinct response that does not challenge anything that Arteta said, but provides a different narrative framing to the conversation. The Arsenal coach focused on how PSG and Bayern Munich players had played fewer minutes, but did not address the underlying reason for it. The Gunners have spent many hundreds of millions of euros assembling a squad that can compete for titles — they have no room to cry about unfairness.
In the end, it seems that neither Vincent Kompany or Luis Enrique are being swayed by the common narratives surrounding the fixture. Football is played on the pitch, and Kompany seems content to let the ball do the talking.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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