A nod from Vincent Kompany! The FC Bayern Munich star receives high praise – and brings back special memories for Joshua Kimmich
After scoring his two long-range goals on Saturday, Bischof revealed that Kimmich had urged him to shoot at goal despite his role. “Jo said to me: ‘Can you please have a go at goal now?’ Because I always do it in training – in the game I don’t find the right situation, can’t get into the box or miss the moment. And today I just went for it. It felt brilliant and, of course, it was great to help the lads to victory.”
Kimmich confirmed the conversation and offered further praise. “Along with Harry (Kane; Ed.), Tom definitely has the best shot in the team. Whether it’s left or right – and he hasn’t managed to score one for us yet. That’s why I had that chat with him, where I said: ‘You’ve got to have the confidence that we’ll put you in position, or that you’ll put yourself in position, so you can actually have a go at goal’.”
Kimmich also highlighted the significance of the victory, which is likely to be of little bearing on the outcome of the championship. “It really helped us that he did that twice. Because, of course, that changes the momentum. Perhaps not much would have happened now if we’d lost 0–2. Then everyone would have said: ‘They’ve already got their heads in Madrid.’ Perhaps not much would have changed in our approach for tomorrow either. But even so, it shows us as a team that even if we have a game that isn’t going so well, we always have the mentality to win such matches,” he emphasised, adding: “It’s not just Harry Kane or Michael (Olise) or Lucho. We also have other players who can decide the game – and in this case, it was Tom. That’s very important for us in terms of believing in our own strengths.”
Against Real, however, Bischof is expected to start on the bench. Konrad Laimer will likely line up at left-back to face Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and co. In midfield, Leon Goretzka or Aleksandar Pavlovic will start alongside Kimmich. Bischof cannot, however, complain about his playing time in his first season at Bayern. He has made a total of 33 appearances this season, contributing three assists as well as his brace. Incidentally, he played 17 of those games as a left-back.
