Soccer Football - Champions League - Shakhtar Donetsk v Bayern Munich - Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - December 10, 2024 Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany before the match REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (Reuters) - Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany praised his veteran striker Thomas Mueller who took advantage of a rare start this season to put the side ahead against Shakhtar Donetsk after they had gone behind early in their Champions League game on Tuesday.
"His goal is a quality that he always had in his career, just the right moment, the right place and he scored the goal very efficiently," Kompany told reporters after the 5-1 win.
"And then of course the energy, the passion, the leadership. For us it is very important to have a good balance between experienced players and young players who still have to grow."
Mueller had started only one of Bayern's previous five games in the competition but, with Harry Kane out injured, the 35-year-old stepped up and was in the perfect position to put Bayern in front just before halftime and begin the fightback.
Kompany has given Mueller just three starts in the Bundesliga this season but the manager was keen to emphasise the importance of the player to his squad, and his ability to still be there when it counted.
"I think it has always been clear that he still plays a very important role for us, even if sometimes it is not every minute in the season, it is sometimes normal," Kompany said.
"I think because he has so much experience, he knows how important these moments are.
"He can turn a game but we play in the Champions League, you can't always have a totally dominant game without the opponents working out a chance.
"At that moment it was his chance and he did something important for the team. Of course, I think overall that we were very dominant, that we played well and that was an important moment."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; editing by Clare Fallon)
