Vincent Kompany, the Bayern Munich manager, expressed his frustration after his team's Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, pointing to several controversial refereeing decisions across the two legs. Speaking after the 1-1 draw that sealed PSG's progression, Kompany said: 'I think we gave everything. It was a game of details. We've played five times against PSG in the last two years – we won two times, they won two times and tonight was a draw.'
Controversial Calls
Kompany highlighted two specific incidents that he felt went against his side. 'If you look at both penalties [the one given against Alphonso Davies last week and the one not given against Joao Neves tonight] it's ridiculous. A little bit of common sense… whatever needs to happen,' he said. The Bayern boss also pointed to a potential second yellow card for Nuno Mendes in the first half. 'I thought he was giving it and I felt he pulled out because he realised he'd already given him a yellow and he didn't want to send him off, so he turned it round and gave PSG a free-kick.'
Performance Analysis
Despite the setbacks, Kompany praised his team's effort. 'We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games. It's never an excuse, but it matters. If you look at both legs, probably too much went against us. But the guys gave everything. We tried against a fantastic PSG team.' He added: 'I thought we did extremely well at bringing the ball into dangerous areas, and they did extremely well at defending the key areas of the box. On crosses and cutbacks they defending really well. I thought we disrupted a lot of the pressing they do, but they're a dangerous team and you can never completely put them out of the tie.'
The Margin of Error
Kompany acknowledged the fine margins in top-level football. 'It's a one-goal game in the end. It's margins, it's details. It's two great teams. Congratulations to them, and good luck to them.' He then reflected on the difficulty of winning the Champions League, using Bayern Munich as an example: 'Bayern Munich are a great, great club, and even then they win the Champions League on average once every 10 years. That's how difficult it is. I'm not in a mindframe where I question everything because we haven't won it, but the desire is to push for that extra step.'
