Vincent Kompany played down links with Manchester City after Bayern Munich chief tipped the Belgian coach to replace Pep Guardiola at Etihad Stadium in future. Kompany played under Guardiola at City for three seasons and is heavily influenced by the Spanish coach's style and philosophy. The 39-year-old joined the Bavarian club in the summer of 2024.

• Kompany linked to Man City

  In his maiden season in Munich, Kompany helped Bayern regain the Bundesliga title after they lost it to Bayer Leverkusen during the 2023-24 campaign. In the current season, Kompany oversaw a blistering start for the Bavarian side, who are currently enjoying a rich vein of form across all competitions. 

  In the Bundesliga, they sit at the top of the table with 34 points from 12 matches, having won 11 and drawn one. Their most recent league outing saw them thrash Freiburg 6-2 at the Allianz Arena, with goals coming from Lennart Karl, a brace from Michael Olise, Dayot Upamecano, Harry Kane, and Nicolas Jackson. Their Champions League campaign has been equally impressive. They enjoyed a flawless record until their last fixture against Arsenal, where they lost 3-1 and suffered their first defeat of the season. 

  Kompany has received praise from club president Uli Hoeness as the Bayern chief claimed that the Belgian would one day replace Guardiola at Etihad Stadium. Speaking at the recent ‘Power Days’ business event, Hoeness said: "Kompany learned a lot from Pep Guardiola. When [sporting director] Max Eberl suggested Kompany as the third or fourth option, Karl-Heinz [Rummenigge] and I called Pep Guardiola, with whom we are both very good friends, and asked him. Pep said, ‘You can take him blindly, he’s a fantastic coach, he’ll even take over Man City someday when I’m no longer there.'"

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  Tipped to replace Guardiola at Man City?

  Speaking about the links to his former club and Hoeness' comment, Kompany said: "I've often said, I'm not here to comment on Uli Hoeness' statements. I have huge respect for him. But in football I can't think that far ahead, my focus is on Bayern and what we can achieve now. I like to just live in the world I have in front of me now, that takes up all my time. I have zero thoughts about other teams, I only see FC Bayern."

• Kompany not bothered by recent drop in form

  Bayern's sensational form has gone down a bit in the past couple of weeks as some key errors have been noticed in their matches of late. Against Freiburg, Bayern conceded two early goals before coming back from the setback to score six and pick up a thumping win in the end. Then came the 3-1 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal in the Champions League.

  Kompany, however, is not too worried about the drop in form as he told reporters: "We started the season by scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes. It was to be expected that it would change. But falling behind is something we're working on, putting a greater focus on. I still think it's normal circumstances but if it starts to become a pattern, we'll have to work on breaking through that. But the last 20 games we've usually led 3-0 after 20 minutes, that's been the case much more often."

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  Kompany wants to end Bayern's wait for DFB Pokal

  After helping the club win back the Bundesliga title last season, Kompany now aims to win the DFB Pokal too, a trophy that Bayern have not won since 2020. Ahead of the club's  DFB Pokal round of 16 clash against Union Berlin on Wednesday, the Belgian coach said: "At the end of the season, we'd like to have this pressure again, even more. We want to put in a good performance and win – we're prepared for anything, for 90 minutes or another 30. It's positive pressure. You can always say you want to win everything — but it takes work and attitude. If we show tomorrow how hungry we are for the final, then we have a good chance."

India’s elder statesmen turned the clock back at the SCG, crossing a number of statistical milestones along the way

Sampath Bandarupalli25-Oct-20252:03

Chopra: Rohit and Kohli keep adding confidence

14,255 Runs by Virat Kohli in ODI cricket. He is now the second-highest run-getter in the format, going past Kumar Sangakkara (14,234). He stands behind only Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 18,426.9 Hundreds for Rohit Sharma in ODIs against Australia, the joint-most by any batter alongside Tendulkar. Only one batter has scored more hundreds against an opposition in ODIs – 10 against Sri Lanka by Kohli, who also has nine against West Indies.Related

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6 ODI hundreds for Rohit in Australia, the most by a visiting player in the country, going past Kohli and Kumar Sangakkara, who have five each. Five of Rohit’s six hundreds in Australia have come against the home team. No other batter has more than three hundreds against Australia in Australia.70 50-plus scores for Kohli in ODI chases, the most by any batter, going one ahead of Tendulkar (69).17 Hundreds for Rohit in ODI chases, the same as Tendulkar, and only behind Kohli’s 28.Rohit now has 50 hundreds across formats in International cricket. Only nine other batters have scored as many so far.Rohit has now scored six ODI hundreds in Australia, the most by a visiting batter•Cricket Australia via Getty Images1 Players older than Rohit, who was 38 years and 178 days old on Saturday, to score an ODI century for India. Tendulkar was 38 years and 327 days old when he scored 114 against Bangladesh in 2012.Rohit is also the second-oldest batter to score an ODI hundred in Australia, after Geoff Boycott, who was 39 years and 51 days old when he scored 105 against Australia, also at the SCG, in 1979.12 150-plus stands between Rohit and Kohli in ODIs, the joint-most by any pair in the format, alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.Their century stand in Saturday’s ODI was their 19th overall, the third-most by any pair in the format. Tendulkar and Ganguly are at the top with 26 century stands, while Kumar Sangakkara and Tilakaratne Dilshan are second with 20.1454 Partnership runs between Rohit and Kohli in ODIs against Australia, across 27 innings. Only one pair has more partnership runs against an opponent – 1484 by Desmond Haynes and Richie Richardson against Pakistan.2106 Days between the last two century partnerships between Rohit and Kohli in international cricket. The previous one was also in an ODI against Australia, back in January 2020, when they added 137 for the second wicket. In between, the pair had batted 49 times across formats (nine times in Tests, 20 in ODIs and 20 in T20Is) without a century stand.3 Wins for India against Australia across the 20 ODIs they have played at the SCG. Their previous two wins came in 2008 and 2016.

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