Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich: Champions League semi-final, first leg – live

Vincent Kompany is replaced in the Bayern dugout tonight by his assistant Aaron Danks. The 42-year-old Brummie is best known in his own country as the man who took charge of Aston Villa for two matches after the sacking of Steven Gerrard, before joining Michael Carrick’s backroom team at Middlesbrough. But he’d already worked as Kompany’s assistant at Anderlecht, and so came to Munich with his old mucker in June 2024.

As well as working with the team, Danks is also reportedly responsible for the everyday safekeeping of a cockatoo statue that has quickly become a symbol of success at Bayern. The porcelain parrot was on display in the Munich restaurant where the team watched Bayer Leverkusen draw with Freiburg last season, a result that gave Bayern the Bundesliga title, and caught the eye of one of the players, who nabbed it as a lucky charm. The following week, the cockatoo became part of Bayern’s title celebrations, and has since been spotted front and centre of their Supercup hi-jinx as well as this year’s Bundesliga party. The restaurant owner has since joked the bird “flew away to watch a great football adventure up close”.

Expect it to flap back into action should Bayern win the German Cup and/or the Champions League. Rumours that the players have named the bird Danski, after its new keeper, are unconfirmed.