Kompany: My son cried when Real Madrid beat Man City, I told him it's football

Vincent Kompany watched Real Madrid-Manchester City in the Champions League with his son Kai (8) on Wednesday. It hurt that his former English club was narrowly eliminated. 

“My son already saw Man City in the final in Paris,” said Kompany. “He was already talking about tickets to attend that final and then… As a supporter, he wept when the match turned completely around in stoppage time and overtime. He wondered what Real were doing by making mistakes for half an hour, interrupting the game. I told him that that is top football. Those Real players know what to do at such moments. That final in Paris… Well. In any case, my first concern is to avoid European football jump-off matches with Anderlecht.”

Fortunately, a day later there was Marseille – Feyenoord in the Conference League. There the team from Rotterdam proved that a club from the Low Countries can still reach a European final. “In the long run, a Belgian club will also be able to do that,” said Kompany. “There is plenty of talent around here, but we have to show perseverance. I see that they work well in the Netherlands. Not only at Feyenoord, but also at AZ and Vitesse. Everyone always says that the Dutch league is less physical, but I also see teams there playing with pressing, with excellent defenses, while those clubs often spend three times less than we do. Those players earn three times less there. Such a vision is good, but you cannot achieve those goals in the blink of an eye.”