Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said he did not fully understand how the new Champions League format worked after his side improved their chances of progressing to the knockout stages with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Bayern needed a goal from defender Kim Min-jae in the first half to beat 10-man PSG and secure its third win in five games.
“Honestly, I don’t look at the table because I don’t understand it yet,” Kompany said at a press conference. “It would be nice to win a few more games.”
Bayern moved up to 11th place with nine points from five games, one point behind the top eight, which would automatically qualify for the round of 16. PSG are 26th with four games in hand and out of the play-off places with three first-tier games remaining.
This season’s new 36-team league format sees teams face eight teams instead of meeting three opponents twice. They play half of those games at home and half away.
The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16, and the teams ranked 9th to 24th advance to the second round of the playoffs for a spot in the next stage.
“The important thing is to achieve our goal. If we win the remaining games, we have a chance of finishing in the top eight.” said Kompany, a Belgian in his first season at Bayern.
“Obviously I’m happy. Our pressing was very good in the first half. The discipline was there. We could have scored one or two more goals, but the result was good.
“We’re on the right track, but we’re trying to get better.”
