Aleksandar Pavlović suffered an unfortunate injury blow earlier this season in the early stages of Bayern Munich’s 4-0 Bundesliga win over VfB Stuttgart, but the German international is back firing on all cylinders and raring to go for the start of the new year. In total, he missed a total of nine matches across all competitions for the Rekordmeister as a result of his collarbone injury. However, he is still in the preferred starting eleven in midfield alongside Joshua Kimmich when he is healthy for Vincent Kompany, which a preference that has also started to be shared by German national team manager Julian Nagelsmann.
While Pavlović has only managed one goal and assist from thirteen appearances across all competitions, he has become an integral part of Bayern’s midfield and Kompany has shown a great deal of faith in the 20-year-old.
For the midfielder, although he did start to get consistent starts under previous Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel, he recently explained in an interview with Az’s Maximilian Koch (via @iMiaSanMia), how grateful he is for the way Kompany is able to manage the club and individual players. “He’s great for us players because he’s obviously been through almost all the situations himself as a player. Especially when you’re injured, he talks to you a lot and makes you feel you’re still part of the team,” the midfielder explained.
Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
“It was certainly an exciting year. I’m very happy that I came back quickly after the injury and was able to play again. I’m very grateful for the year 2024,” Pavlović added. Kompany’s injury record as a player at Manchester City, RSC Anderlecht, and the Belgian national team certainly saw him have several significant injury spells on the sidelines, so he knows how difficult it can be for players to go through. It is clear through what Pavlović has said that the players in the squad greatly appreciate that perspective Kompany is able to bring and it shows with how players are able to reintegrate quickly after spells on the sidelines.
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