Kompany Addresses Musiala's Collapses as Bayern Supports Midfielder

Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany says a change in Jamal Musiala’s medication triggered the worrying collapses that stunned team-mates and fans during recent friendlies.

Musiala revealed earlier this week that he is being treated for what he called a “neurological dysfunction”, which leads to “temporary, brief, but easily treatable” seizures. Bayern later confirmed they had been aware of signs of the 23-year-old’s condition before the World Cup and throughout last season, but until now it had never affected him on the pitch.

That changed in dramatic fashion. Musiala went down twice in four days, against RB Leipzig and Heidenheim, prompting alarm around the club and renewed scrutiny of his health.

Speaking before Saturday’s German Supercup clash with Borussia Dortmund, Kompany moved to clarify the situation.

“I spoke with Jamal, he said, ‘no problem, you can say it’,” the Bayern coach explained, making it clear the player had given his blessing for the details to be shared. “He made a slight change to his treatment, which caused some side effects. It’s perfectly normal to make changes to a treatment plan.”

The episodes looked shocking from the outside. Inside Säbener Straße, the initial jolt came long ago.

“The initial shock for us was a long time ago. Therefore, we’re not talking about it that much at the moment,” Kompany said. “We’ve received much more information since then and made decisions with the help of leading experts. Jamal has everyone’s support.”

That backing runs through the club hierarchy. Sporting director Max Eberl underlined that Bayern have been living with the reality of Musiala’s condition for some time.

“We’ve known about it the entire last season. The players also knew about it. For us, it’s become part of everyday life,” Eberl said. “We will give him all our support, have already done so, and will continue to do so. We’re doing this together.”

Musiala will not feature in the Supercup opener. Kompany has ruled him out, along with Lennard Maloney and Serge Gnabry, as Bayern prepare to face Dortmund without one of their most gifted attacking players.

The plan now is to slow things down around the Germany international and strip away the noise.

Kompany said he wants to “get things back to how they were before” and confirmed that Musiala will train “individually” for the rest of the week. Bayern will then assess him ahead of the start of their Bundesliga title defence against Stuttgart.

The champions are used to building seasons around Musiala’s creativity. The coming weeks will show how quickly they can do that again – and how smoothly he can return after a scare that briefly stopped Bayern in their tracks.