Vincent Kompany is hoping to see the “magic” Jamal Musiala as the Bayern Munich star continues to step up his fitness levels.
Musiala missed the first half of the season due to a serious injury sustained during the Club World Cup.
He has featured 16 times across all competitions, though has only made five starts, since his return to action.
The Germany international has scored four goals and provided five assists, creating 14 chances for his team-mates in the process, but Kompany knows there is much more to come.
“Jamal Musiala is in a good phase at the moment. I said very early on: He’s developed physically, he’s now also physically close to his best level, not just in terms of strength, but also in terms of his willingness to run,” Kompany said ahead of Bayern taking on Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals.
“He can press like we do. He wins tackles. Now the question is: when will the Magic Musiala return? And he’ll 100% come back at some point; the moments are already there.
“The way he often already gets into dangerous areas. He’s racked up nine goal contributions in 600 minutes – he’s shown that he’s ready! What will be great for me is when freedom eventually returns. Then we might have a developed version of Jamal Musiala – I’m looking forward to that.”
Bayern wrapped up the Bundesliga title on Sunday by beating Stuttgart 4-2.
Should they win all four of their remaining league matches, they will equal the Bundesliga record (set by Bayern themselves in 2012-13) for points in a single season (91).
Kompany’s team also have a Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain to look forward to, and the Belgian insists he is not feeling the pressure.
“I don’t feel any more pressure than usual. But it’s a 90 or 120-minute semi-final – we’ll know tomorrow who’s going to Berlin,” he added.
“These are very special games. You shouldn’t talk it down, but the processes, the preparations remain the same and as important as for all the other games. We’re looking forward to it!”
Poetry in motion pic.twitter.com/MsK9loK856
— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) April 21, 2026
Remarkably, Bayern have reached the last four of the DFB-Pokal for the first time in six years.
They have progressed from their last three DFB-Pokal semi-finals, with their last such defeat coming in 2016-17 against Borussia Dortmund.
Manuel Neuer is set to play his 63rd DFB-Pokal game – he would draw level with Oliver Reck, Sepp Maier, and Norbert Nigbur.
Among all goalkeepers, only Oliver Kahn has played more DFB-Pokal matches (67).
However, Neuer’s future remains unclear, with the 40-year-old out of contract at the end of the season.
When asked about talks over Neuer’s contract, Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl replied: “There’s nothing planned. The game is the most important thing.
“The last time we were in the final was in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, behind closed doors. I’ve won the cup with [RB] Leipzig before – it’s an incredible experience, we want to achieve that, and our whole focus is on it. And we’ll announce something about Manu at some point.”