Bayern Munich eased to a 6-1 victory over second-tier Magdeburg in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday, hours after head coach Vincent Kompany was discharged from hospital. In other European action, Inter Milan returned to the top of Serie A with a win, while all Wednesday Copa del Rey matches were postponed following a deadly train crash in Spain.
Bayern Munich Progress After Kompany Returns Home
Kompany’s assistant, Aaron Danks, managed the team from the dugout for the last-32 tie at the Allianz Arena in front of 75,000 fans. Harry Kane was rested for the fixture and received a guard of honour from his teammates before kick-off after winning the Ballon d’Or.
Bayern secured the win through goals from Michael Olise, who scored twice, Ismael Saibari, Alphonso Davies, Nathaniel Brown and teenager David Santos Daiber. Mateusz Zukowski scored the sole goal for the visitors.
The German Cup holders received pre-match relief as Kompany returned home five days after collapsing at training. Sportando sporting director Max Eberl stated that the Belgian suffered from meningeal irritation. “We have identified the cause: it is a case of meningeal irritation, which is what triggered the incident last Friday,” Eberl said, adding that the coach will focus on rest and medication at home.
Assistant coach Danks noted that Kompany needs time to recover with his family. “We’re very pleased that [Vincent] is getting better,” Danks said, as reported by Sport | The Guardian. “But he needs to rest, spend time with his family and continue to get better.”
Domestic Action Across Europe
In other DFB-Pokal matches, Bayer Leverkusen overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Nuremberg 5-2, with Edmond Tapsoba scoring twice alongside goals from Patrik Schick, Jonas Hofmann and Lucas Vázquez. Stuttgart edged Paderborn 1-0 via a late Deniz Undav strike, and Freiburg defeated Wolfsburg 3-2 after two goals from Keisuke Goto. Second-tier Dynamo Dresden beat Schalke 2-0, and Holstein Kiel knocked out Hoffenheim 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. A major upset occurred in Poland as top-tier champions Lech Poznan lost 1-0 to fourth-tier Siarka Tarnobrzeg.
In Serie A, Internazionale climbed to the summit with a 2-0 away win over bottom-placed Venezia, aided by late own goals from Matías Moreno and Redouane Halhal. Meanwhile, Bologna defeated Milan 4-2 at San Siro, handing Milan their first league defeat of the season. Samuel Mbangula scored a hat-trick for Bologna, while Alphadjo Cisse netted twice for Milan.
Elsewhere in Italy, Juventus suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Genoa following goals from Kingsley Ehizibue and Tommaso Baldanzi. Napoli secured a 4-1 victory over Monza with goals from Rasmus Højlund, Matteo Politano, Rafa Marín and Kevin De Bruyne, while Parma and Udinese drew 0-0.
In Spain, all 24 Copa del Rey matches scheduled for Wednesday evening were postponed following a high-speed train collision in the province of Toledo that resulted in at least 68 deaths. La Liga clubs including Alavés, Celta Vigo, Levante, Real Betis and Valencia will play their postponed fixtures at later dates, while Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid expressed their condolences.
Danks will continue to lead Bayern Munich from the touchline while Kompany continues his rehabilitation ahead of their upcoming weekend fixture.
