On Thomas Tuchel’s first day as Bayern Munich head coach, Kingsley Coman was sure to remind him of their history.
“You owe me a Champions League”, Tuchel told the winger, who scored the winner in the 2020 final for Bayern against his Paris Saint-Germain side. “We will get one together,” responded Coman.
Bayern have made a good start on Tuchel’s first attempt, securing qualification to the knockout phase as winners of Group A with two games to spare.
Manchester United, Bayern’s opponents on Tuesday, haven’t had the same success. Bottom of the group after five games, the Premier League side need to win at Old Trafford and hope the other game, between Copenhagen and Galatasaray, ends in a draw to progress.
“It’s not a surprise because I know the Champions League is hard,” Coman tells Sky Sports News of United’s struggles in Europe.
“I know they are a good team but I knew Galatasaray were a good team as well. Galatasaray bought some good players that were used to playing at a high level. I was surprised by Copenhagen, they are really good.
“I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as people thought, Champions League is never easy.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Manchester United and Bournemouth.
The Champions League is one of just 25 major trophies Coman has won in his glittering career. Although, he has a burning desire to lift the famous trophy again this season – this time with the fans.
Bayern’s victorious final against PSG in Lisbon was played behind closed doors in August 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Finals are something else”, he says. “The adrenaline, the atmosphere – nothing matches a final. This Champions League, we had the adrenaline but we were without the fans.
“It was missing something so I would really love to play in the Champions League final and win with Bayern and to make sure everyone is in the stadium to appreciate it. I love the adrenaline and everything. You can get it by yourself but it is mostly the fans when they are cheering, singing and screaming. This is what I want to do.”
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Kingsley Coman says he’s been taken by surprise about how good Harry Kane has been and praised his ‘unselfish work ethic’
The transfer of Harry Kane has elevated Bayern’s chances of winning a seventh Champions League. Coman admits he’s been surprised by the striker’s quality. “I knew he was good, I didn’t know he was that good,” he says.
“It’s nice to have such a striker to play with. I’ve been used to playing with amazing strikers. Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema more recently with the national team or even Carlos Tevez back in the day for Juventus. It is nice to have someone to rely on to score goals.”
Coman has noticed a key difference in Kane though. “He is more of a team player than most of the strikers I have played with,” he says. “He is not selfish. Normally, most of the No 9s are selfish.
“They need to score a lot of goals, and this is why they score so many goals. At the moment he scores so many goals, but he gives crazy nice spaces to me, Leroy Sane and to everyone. This is what makes the difference.”
Before signing a new contract with Bayern after last year’s World Cup, Coman had been linked with a move to the Premier League.
“There were many teams that wanted me, not just in England,” he says. “I can’t say who. I won’t say I was close to leaving, but when you arrive at the end of your contract you think about all of your options, what goals you have and if you want to try something else.
“At the end if I sign for Bayern for five years it is because at the time I felt like staying at Bayern was the best for my career and me personally. That is why I chose this. “
At 27, Coman has three and a half years to run on his deal, but does not rule out one day playing in the Premier League.
“I would say it is in the back of my head,” he says. “What I love about football is the intensity of the game, the challenge.
“The Premier League is one of the leagues, if not the league, with the most challenges and intensity. It is definitely a league I would like to play in one day but you don’t know what could happen in football. I could stay in Bayern and be the happiest ever.”
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Watch highlights as Eintracht Frankfurt stunned Bayern Munich with a 5-1 victory
The former PSG and Juventus winger admits he thinks about becoming the first player to win a title in each of the five major leagues. “If I win in Spain and England then have the five titles – I don’t know if many players did it. I don’t think a lot did it, maybe none,” he says.
Coman has won it all at club level but has unfinished business with the France national team. Having missed the 2018 World Cup due to injury, Coman has experienced defeat in two major finals with France.
That’s why this summer’s Euros in Germany takes on an even greater level of importance for the 27-year-old.
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“Top thing on the list for me is winning something with the national team,” Coman says. “I lose the Euro final, the World Cup final. It is still there every time I wear the jersey, I’m like, ‘this one is the good one’.
“It’s still amazing to arrive in the finals of such competitions, but I know that I will do everything to win one competition with the national team.”