Harry Kane injury: Vincent Kompany hopes ankle damage is not serious

Vincent Kompany said the ankle injury that forced Harry Kane out in Bayern Munich’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday was “nothing serious” and he hoped the England captain would be fit to face Aston Villa to compete in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Bayern issued a statement on Sunday noting a “positive development” and saying Kane would continue to receive “intensive treatment.”

Kane was replaced by Thomas Müller in the 86th minute of the draw against reigning champions Xabi Alonso at the Allianz Arena after a collision with Amine Adli.

“Hopefully it’s nothing serious,” Kompany said on the club’s website. “I’m not a doctor but I hope he can play against Aston Villa on Wednesday.”

Bayern will travel to England in midweek to face Unai Emery’s side at Villa Park. This is a repeat of the 1982 European Cup final, which Aston Villa won 1-0.

The German side released an update on Kane’s injury on Sunday. “Harry Kane suffered a painful blow to his ankle in the top Bundesliga game against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday,” the club said in a statement. “Examinations by the FC Bayern medical department on Sunday showed a positive development. Kane continues to receive intensive treatment.”

Kane suffered several ankle injuries throughout his career, particularly in his early years at Tottenham.

Leverkusen took the lead in Sunday’s heavyweight duel thanks to a long-range shot from Robert Andrich before Aleksandar Pavlovic equalized for the home team in the 31st minute. Bayern finished the game with 18 shots compared to three for Leverkusen, but were unable to find a winner against Alonso’s determined side.

“It felt like we did what we had to do to win a tough game,” Kompany told ESPN. “It can’t always go the way you want, but I think that’s the best thing that can be done against a strong Leverkusen team so that we actually have a good game. And at the end, when you hit the crossbar and the post and “A few big chances that you don’t score, it’s always difficult against this type of team.

“In the end we conceded how many shots? One or two? That doesn’t happen at all in a game like this. This was the best team in Germany last year and for us that is the benchmark and we want to be the best team this year.”

Bayern’s performances under Kompany this season have been praised and the team’s free attacking style has seen the team score 14 goals in their last two games.

“I think we are still on the way up. I think our performances have gradually improved,” said Kompany. “It was the same today. It’s never continuous, but so far we’re continually improving. I don’t see any reason why we can’t win a lot of games this season, apart from injuries or changing our habits, but I don’t think that will happen.

Bayern remain top of the Bundesliga, two points ahead of RB Leipzig and three ahead of Leverkusen. In their next home game on October 6th they have to play against Eintracht Frankfurt.