Bayern coach Kompany praises young star Karl after Real Madrid comments

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich’s 17-year-old breakout star Lennart Karl has been teased by his teammates for his comments about wanting to join Real Madrid some day, coach Vincent Kompany revealed as he praised the young attacking midfielder.

Karl called Madrid his “dream club” at a Bayern fan event last week, prompting laughs from the audience and criticism from some Bayern supporters online questioning his loyalty to the club.

“He’s made, maybe, a little communication mistake,” Kompany said Saturday. “For him at 17, he still focuses on the right things, in my opinion. He’s had a very, very good week in training and I’ve been really observing that side of it more. He’s done so much to achieve his playing minutes.”

Playing for the first time since the comments, Karl scored twice in a 5-0 friendly win over Salzburg on Tuesday.

Kompany said he chose not to discuss the issue with Karl because the midfielder had already apologized to Bayern’s management and “everyone has an opinion” about the youngster.

“His teammates teased him a little bit, I heard it, it was fun,” Kompany said. “If he trains badly, problem with me. If he doesn’t play well or if he doesn’t play 100%, problem with me. But he did the opposite. He trained really well, played really well, worked really hard, apologized. It’s still OK for me.”

Karl became Bayern’s youngest Champions League scorer in October and has a total six goals in 22 games in all competitions.

Bayern plays its first Bundesliga game of the new year at home against Wolfsburg on Sunday.

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