Vincent Kompany said he’s “impressed every day” by Manuel Neuer after the veteran goalkeeper made nine saves in Bayern Munich’s 2-1 Champions League win over Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Neuer, 40, made three stops each against Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in an MVP performance at the Bernabéu, to leave Bayern on top going into next week’s quarterfinal second leg in Munich.
The keeper was also close to keeping out Mbappé’s 74th-minute goal, getting his hand to the forward’s shot, which then crept over the line, to give Madrid hope in the tie.
“You’ll get me in trouble with guys like Thibaut Courtois, who I like very much as well!” Kompany said in his postmatch news conference, when asked if Neuer was the best goalkeeper ever. “Everyone can have their own choice, but Manu has done it for a very, very long time. That’s something not many goalkeepers are able to do.
“I see him every day in training, and still now I’m impressed every day. That shows how much he’s still able to be one of the top goalkeepers.”
Neuer’s nine saves were the most he has made in a game in the past five seasons in all competitions.
The last time he topped the figure in the Champions League knockout stage was in April 2017, when he made 10, also against Real Madrid.
Madrid’s players praised Neuer after Tuesday’s match, with both keeper Andriy Lunin and defender Antonio Rüdiger describing him as Bayern’s “best player.”
“If he was the best player I’m happy with that, it’s not a problem,” Kompany said. “You need special performances always, at this level in these kinds of games. Today we had chances to score more goals, so let’s hope we continue this form, and hope our strikers are the best players next week, that would also be OK for me.”
