Kompany hopeful Kane injury 'nothing serious'
Vincent Kompany has said the ankle injury that forced Harry Kane off in Bayern Munich‘s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday is “nothing serious” and that he is hopeful that the England captain will be fit to face Aston Villa in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Bayern issued a statement on Sunday in which they noted a “positive development” and said that Kane would continue to receive “intensive treatment.”
Kane was replaced by Thomas Müller in the 86th minute of the draw with Xabi Alonso’ reigning champions at the Allianz Arena following a collision with Amine Adli.
“Hopefully it’s nothing serious,” Kompany told the club’s website. “I’m not a doctor but I hope he can play against Aston Villa on Wednesday.”
Bayern will travel to England to face Unai Emery’s team at Villa Park in midweek in what will be a replay of the 1982 European Cup final that Aston Villa won 1-0.
The German side issued an update on Kane’s injury on Sunday. “Harry Kane suffered a painful blow to his ankle in Saturday’s top Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen,” the club said in a statement. “Examinations by FC Bayern’s medical department on Sunday showed a positive development. Kane will continue to receive intensive treatment.”
Kane has suffered several ankle injuries during his career, particularly during his early years at Tottenham.
Leverkusen took the lead in Sunday’s heavyweight clash through a long-range strike from Robert Andrich before Aleksandar Pavlovic equalised for the home side in the 31st minute. Bayern finished the game with 18 shots compared to three for Leverkusen, but couldn’t find a winner against Alonso’s determined side.
“It felt like we did what we had to do to win a tough game,” Kompany told ESPN. “It can’t always go your way, but I think this is as close as it could get against a strong Leverkusen team, for us to actually have a good game. And then in the end if you hit the crossbar and the post and a couple of big chances, you don’t score them, against this type of team, it’s always difficult.
“In the end we conceded how many shots? One or two? You don’t get this, in this type of game, absolutely not. That’s the best team in Germany last year and for us that’s the benchmark and we want to become the best team this year.”
Bayern’s performances under Kompany this season have been praised and the team’s free-flowing attacking style had seen them score 14 goals in their previous two matches.
“I think we’re on the way up still. I think our performances have gradually improved,” Kompany said. “Today it was the case as well. It’s never continuous, but so far we are continuously improving. I don’t see any reason why we can’t win a lot of games this season other than injuries or us changing our habits, but I don’t see that happening.”
Bayern remain top of the Bundesliga table, two points clear of RB Leipzig and three ahead of Leverkusen. They face a trip to face Eintracht Frankfurt in their next domestic fixture on Oct. 6.
