Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß put Vincent Kompany’s scary training ground collapse last month down to “an immense amount of stress” after detailing the brutal demands put upon the manager of the German champions.

Kompany was rushed to hospital on Oct. 23 after collapsing to the turf while watching Bayern Munich’s second team train. The former Premier League-winning center back had been dealing with a virus in the preceding few weeks, with reports claiming he had difficulty walking up a flight of stairs before Bayern’s 6–1 drubbing of RB Leipzig.

The 40-year-old pushed himself to appear on the touchline for a marquee Champions League clash with Arsenal before his body gave way two days later. Updates on Kompany’s recovery have been vague, with the club only belatedly confirming their trophy-laden manager had been suffering from a case of meningeal irritation.

“It’s weighing heavily on us,” Hoeneß admitted during an appearance on the weekend roundtable program, Der Sonntags-Stammtisch.

“I don’t think Kompany’s situation is all that dire. As I understand it, he had a severe case of the flu that went untreated for too long, which then developed into meningitis. It’s treatable. He’s under an immense amount of stress—he works twelve hours a day.”

Kompany is part of a wave of youthful managers across Europe’s elite. The evolution of tactics plays a role in this trend but the brutal physical demands of everything that comes with modern management is as much—if not more—of a consideration. There are countless hours of footage to watch, endless reams of data to pour over and an ever-expanding pool of players and support staff to manage, all under a white-hot spotlight.

As Kompany has unfortunately been forced to prove, even the youngsters are still vulnerable to the grind.

New Vincent Kompany Recovery Timeline Provided

Kompany has missed Bayern’s previous five fixtures since his collapse, waiting in the wings while his trusted former Burnley assistant Aaron Danks has patrolled the touchline. The Bavarian behemoths have only failed to win one of those fixtures—a frantic 2–2 draw with Borussia Dortmund which Harry Kane would rather forget—but Kompany’s return is obviously keenly anticipated.

“After the upcoming international break—in two or three weeks—he’ll be back on the bench,” Hoeneß confirmed.

Bayern return to domestic action on Friday, Nov. 20 with a visit from FC Köln. A sprint to the winter break ensues thereafter, with eight games across three competitions squeezed into four weeks. There is a merciful pause from the weekend of Dec. 19 until the second Saturday of January. It will be a break gratefully received by all those in Munich.