Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards were two up and coming defenders in a Manchester City side that was still trying to establish themselves amongst England’s elite. Both of them represented City together for close to seven years, but their career paths have been very different since then. Kompany went on to win multiple titles captaining Man City, captaining Belgium national side to World Cups. whereas Richards career was marked by injuries, which saw him move to Fiorentina and Aston Villa and eventually retiring aged 31. But two crossed path again recently.
Vincent Kompany on Tuesday created history with his Bayern Munich side in the Champions League quarter final first leg. He became the first manager of the Bavarian Club in 25 years to defeat Real Madrid at their iconic homeground Santiago Bernabeu. Bayern took the lead in the first half thanks to Luis Diaz just before the half time and followed it up with Harry Kane scoring within 20 seconds from the start of the second half. Kylian Mbappe did half the deficit for Madrid but Manuel Nuer’s nine saves meant Bayern came out as 2-1 winners from the encounter, taking a slender lead, before the second leg.
It was following the match where a conversation between Kompany and Richards, now a football expert of CBS Sports, had the football fans talking. Kompany appeared for a post match interview and Richards was all smiles during it. The conversation started with Richards claiming, ‘no ringing, no texts, you gone on hollywood on me now,’ to which Kompany calmly responded, ‘There is only one guy, that wants to make it in Hollywood and that is you Micah.’ Following that coming to the performance, Richards praised the Bayern manager and talked about his journey from Burnley to Bayern, saying he, ‘On a more serious note, to see your journey at Burnley and then going to Bayern, a lot of questions asked at the start, but I always knew, back in the dressing room, when you are studying and we were having fun and being stupid, I alwyas knew that you’d get to the top — so congratulations, sir.’
Micah’s former teammate Kompany gladly accepted the compliment with a smile, but the real fun part started after that. Kompany, who seems to have a keen eye on his former teammates’ punditry, reminded him of his past instances where he has been critical of him and his side. Kompany said, ‘Yeah, but Micah, I have to say something… I watched the show last year, and you always picked my team to lose — so don’t go and say that now.’
Micah Richards à Kompany:
— Media Bayern France (@MediaBayernFR) April 7, 2026
"J’ai toujours su que tu étais destiné pour devenir un des meilleurs donc bravo Monsieur"
–Kompany: "Micah tu sais que je regardais l’émission l’année dernière et tu disais tout le temps qu’on allait perdre" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/22esPrl3fd
This cheeky remark of Kompany shocked Richards in a funny way and the whole of the studio bursted out laughing. This incident however showcased that despite the different journeys and after all these years, Kompany and Richards still share a healthy friendship back from their Man City days.
