Kompany Hospitalized, Bayern Turns To Danks

Bayern Munich assistant Aaron Danks takes charge for Sunday's Bundesliga trip to Freiburg after head coach Vincent Kompany collapsed at training on Friday and was admitted to hospital. Kompany, 40, was diagnosed with a virus and is being treated there, the club said on Saturday.

Director of Sport Max Eberl told reporters on Saturday that Kompany's condition was stable. Examinations are continuing to identify the nature of the illness, Eberl said, and no return timeline has been set. He said the club would not speculate on a timeframe: "Vinnie will be given all the time he needs. We're not starting to put together any timeframes." Eberl added that any absence would be measured in weeks, not days.

Danks, an English coach, addressed Saturday's news conference in Kompany's place. He said he spoke with the former Manchester City and Belgium captain on Friday, keeping the conversation away from football. "I explained to him that we wouldn't be having no football conversations," Danks said. "It was just checking in on his health and making sure he's OK." Danks added that all football operations remain with the coaching staff.

Bayern's second-team match was called off on Friday after Kompany's collapse. Eberl said the club did not seek to postpone the Freiburg fixture, and that a strong result would serve Kompany well: "That would probably be one of the best things we could do to help him recover." Danks confirmed that Germany captain Joshua Kimmich, on bereavement leave since Tuesday, will also miss the match.

Kompany had returned to the dugout for Wednesday's home fixture against Arsenal, though he skipped the pre-match news conference because of the virus. He said afterward that he had ignored warning signs. "I caught a pretty nasty virus last week, and of course, I didn't listen to my body, and then at some point, my body just said, 'Enough is enough!'",