Kompany wary of PSG quality despite European struggles

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany is ignoring Paris Saint-Germain’s poor start in the Champions League and expects a fierce test when the Parisiens visit Bavaria on Tuesday.

Six-time European champions Bayern are a lowly 17th in the 36-team Champions League table, currently occupying a playoff spot with just six points from four games.

PSG, meanwhile, are in danger of missing out on qualification entirely, sitting 25th with four points after being dealt a difficult draw.

Ahead of this week’s fifth round of matches, the Opta supercomputer gave Bayern a 75% chance of reaching the last 16, either via automatic qualification or the playoffs.

PSG, meanwhile, are assigned just a 45% chance of making the round of 16.

However, Kompany will not take anything for granted ahead of the visit of Luis Enrique’s men, saying: “We are playing against one of the big clubs in Europe.

They have a lot of individual quality and a very good coach. Both teams will want to win. We are playing at home and this match is of utmost importance to us.

“It’s a squad with incredible talent. The spaces between the lines are never big, the pressing is very aggressive and good.

“When they have the ball, they have a clear attacking approach. As a team, they are really very good.”

While the German giants have lost two of their four Champions League matches this season, they are undefeated in the Bundesliga and have not conceded a goal in five consecutive league games, but Kompany is still striving for more.

“There are many teams in the competition that we haven’t seen yet. We often talk about finishing in the top eight… our goal is to finish top one,” the Belgian added.

Bayern are without 20-year-old defensive midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic, who broke his collarbone in October.

“Aleks is not yet fully integrated into training. It is going well and quickly, but it will still take a little while,” Kompany said.

One man who is raring to go is Harry Kane, who has scored 50 Bundesliga goals since joining from Tottenham in August last year, needing just 43 games to reach that mark – fewer than any player in the league’s history.

“It has been a long time since I felt as good as I do now,” the England captain said. “As an experienced player, you learn a lot about different phases in a game.

“Since I’ve been at Bayern, my numbers have gone up. I hope that this continues and that we can keep raising our standards.

“Without the players around me, all of the goals I score would not be possible. They create space.

“We have a lot of competition for different positions, a lot of quality and a high tempo. Sometimes I also drop deeper to give my team-mates more space. We get on very well.”