MUNICH: Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said ON Tuesday his side need to be ready to “push through the pain barrier” to make it past Real Madrid and qualify for the Champions League semi-finals.
Bayern beat Real 2-1 in the first leg in Madrid and need to avoid defeat at home on Wednesday to reach the final four.
Kompany told reporters that Bayern’s desire against the 15-time European champions would be key.
“It depends on many things. In games like this, the individual quality of the players is always decisive. But there’s also the collective intensity and a readiness to push through the pain barrier,” Kompany said.
“Every detail matters in games like this, but for us what’s most important is that we’re mentally and physically well prepared.
“We’re also looking forward to the match and that’s something you need, positive emotions.”
Bayern dominated much of the match in Madrid but still needed veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to pull off several spectacular saves.
“My feeling after the match was that we could have gone a level higher. And that’s pretty good when you win 2-1 at the Bernabeu and think, ‘We could have done more’,” Kompany added. “But then you need to show it.”
Bayern’s Michael Olise starred in the opening leg and Kompany said there were no limits to the France winger’s talent.
“For sure he will be one day,” Kompany said when asked if Olise was one of the best in the world. “I think now he’s on the right path. He’s on a level of the best players in Europe at the moment.”
Kompany also praised Marie-Louise Eta, who on Sunday became the first female coach of a men’s team in a top-five European league when she was named Union Berlin boss.
“It’s a key moment. It’s easy to minimise and say she’s just a coach like everybody else — and of course that’s how we have to treat her — but at the end it’s something special,” the Belgian said.
“It opens up opportunities to little girls who are now playing football and thinking, ‘now, I can coach anywhere, I can make a real career in this game and be successful like what I’m seeing on TV’. Those stories, they’re really important.”
‘Pure Fire’
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his players are driven by pure fire as they head into Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting Lisbon, urging fearlessness as his side chase two major trophies despite injury concerns and recent setbacks.
Arsenals hopes of silverware were cut to two competitions following defeats by Manchester City in the League Cup final and Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Arteta said his players remain motivated as they chase a first Champions League title and a first Premier League crown for 22 years, with Arsenal top of the table on 70 points from 32 games.
“What we are trying to achieve, it’s difficult, challenging, bumpy at times. It’s supposed to be like this. You have to confront it,” Arteta told reporters on Tuesday. “We are trying to do something, in this competition, that hasn’t been done in the history of the club. That tells you the difficulty of that. It’s the first time that we are playing in the Champions League quarter-finals for third year in a row.
“If we want to go to the next step, for sure, we have to have more ambition than anyone else. We are doing it, and are very, very close.”
The London club take a 1-0 lead into the tie after losing 2-1 at home to Bournemouth.
“We have no fear. Pure fire, that’s what I want to see from the players, the fans and myself, Arteta said. “We are in April with an incredible opportunity ahead of us. Let’s go for it. We are putting everything into it.”
The Spaniard kept his cards close to his chest on team news, offering no update on midfielder Declan Rice who missed training.
“We have to wait tomorrow morning to see how a few of the boys are and make the right decision,” Arteta said.
“I do not want to speak on what the situation is with Rice. Maybe one of Bukayo Saka or Jurrien Timber will return. We have to wait and see.”
Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026
