Vincent Kompany believes he can thank a poor performance against Celtic for becoming a Manchester blue instead of red
The Bayern Munich boss was speaking at Celtic Park ahead of the first leg of the Champions League play-off on Wednesday.
Kompany’s first away game in the competition was as a 17-year-old for Anderlecht in 2003 when, with then United boss Sir Alex Ferguson watching on, the Belgian side lost 3-1 at Parkhead.
The former Belgium defender had a spell at Hamburg before joining Manchester City in 2008, where he stayed for 11 successful years before returning to Anderlecht to finish his career.
Kompany, who took over as boss of the German giants last summer, said: “I remember it being a special night.
“I don’t want to drag too much nostalgia into it, but I think I was fortunate to play poorly because I remember that Sir Alex Ferguson came to watch me that night, and if I would have played a good game, maybe he might have come in with a bid for me.
“So I’m really happy that I ended up on the blue side of Manchester. But in the end, I was a young player, and that was a first experience for me.
“Later in your career, you look forward to these moments, if you can pick moments where you want to play and show your best football, it is those moments. ”
Kompany also recalled that in his last game for City at the Etihad in May, 2019 when he came up against Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, then in charge of Leicester City.
The Belgian scored a spectacular winner in a 1-0 win, the penultimate step towards the title.
He said: “It is a coincidence, but my last ever game at the Etihad for Man City was when Brendan was a coach.
“I remember it was a must-win game for us and we didn’t have it all our way, and we had a very, very strong team.”
Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup when they beat Inter Milan in 1967, while Bayern have won six European titles, the last in 2020.
Kompany said: “Obviously both clubs, stand very high in in the tradition of the Champions League, because their achievements of the past.
“For myself, and I can imagine that it would be the same for Brendan, we’re all here for the next piece of the history.
“That’s our job. That’s our role, to try and achieve this next moment for our fans, for the people who are following our teams and historically, anyone that has a little bit of a deeper understanding of football would understand the home record of Celtic in this competition and it’s not just recent.”
Bayern have travelled to Scotland without Alphonso Davies (hamstring), Daniel Peretz (kidney) and Joao Palhinha (ill), while Serge Gnabry (illness) faces a late fitness test.
