Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Currently considered the two best coaches in Europe, Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany sublimate Paris SG and Bayern with a game focused on attack, a key sector of the semi-final return of the Champions League, Wednesday in Munich.

Published on: 05/05/2026 - 07:01

The offensive spectacle offered last Tuesday at the Parc des Princes in the first leg (5-4 for PSG), which excited the entire football world, marvelously materialized the playing philosophy common to these two technicians, although with distinct trajectories.

For three seasons, Luis Enrique has become the main face of PSG. With the historic Champions League title won in Munich at the end of May 2025, the 55-year-old Spaniard was propelled into another dimension, that of the greatest coach in the history of the club and one of the best in the world.

“In Paris, the project was different. It’s a construction project, we had to invent,” he said last year before the coronation. Winner of the Champions League with FC Barcelona in 2015, his merit is even greater at the head of PSG, which has reached a third consecutive semi-final in C1.

Mastermind of his own project, with sports advisor Luis Campos and president Nasser al-Khelaïfi, the Spaniard had carte blanche to change everything upon his arrival in the summer of 2023 and lead a revolution, transforming a bling-bling PSG around Messi, Neymar and Mbappé, into a pure collective.

In the eyes of the technician, no head should protrude from the team, except perhaps his own. A man of experience and character, he has unprecedented total freedom, heavily involved in recruitment, jointly with the two other strong men.

“Revolutionary” for PSG

"Luis Enrique always remains motivated and in a good mood. We all learn from him. He has the complete package, he is an incredible person and an excellent coach", recently slipped "NAK", while upon the arrival of the native of Gijon, PSG was praised for his "true legitimacy" and his "real know-how".

He retained his ideas of play based on possession and pressing, his temperament, but also his desire to be close to his players while being “strong with the strong” in the locker room.

"It was revolutionary for the club. It's not easy to change so many things in such a short time. There was a lot of criticism last year. In the end, we said that it was the best, it's a nice story", underlined Vincent Kompany at the end of the autumn.

Unlike Luis Enrique, Kompany arrived in Bavaria in June 2024 at the very start of his coaching career, after three seasons spent at Anderlecht, his training club, then two seasons at Burnley, with promotion to the Premier League followed by relegation.

At Bayern, a club marked by the chronic instability of its coaches (seven between the departure of Pep Guardiola in 2017 and the arrival of Kompany in 2024), Kompany quickly established himself through his calm and his results.

During his first season, he restored the title of German champion, after a bitter fight with Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen.

At Bayern until 2029

At just 40 years old, he passed the 100-match mark on the Bavarian bench in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League in Madrid against Real (2-1 victory), a figure only reached by Guardiola, Jupp Heynckes, Felix Magath and Otmar Hitzfeld over the last three decades.

“The way +Vinnie+ combines coaching qualities and human qualities is extraordinary. He is always friendly, open and accessible. But he knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it on the pitch,” said sports director Max Eberl recently.

An enthusiasm from the managers which materialized with the extension to the fall of 2025 of Kompany's contract, now committed until the summer of 2029 at Bayern, while the former central defender of the Belgian selection begins to attract desire.

Guardiola, who coached him at Manchester City, constantly repeats that Kompany will one day be the coach of the Citizens. Statements that leave the Munich club unmoved.

Vincent Kompany and Luis Enrique share this desire to develop young players. Another point in common is that they managed to convince their offensive players to participate in the defensive effort, the basis for building the offensive game.

© 2026 AFP

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