Eighth-final opponent Salzburg in the Champions League is the topic of the day around FC Bayern, but the two duels are still far away. In the Bundesliga, on the other hand, the away game at VfB Stuttgart already awaits the designated autumn champions on Tuesday. Coach Julian Nagelsmann is plagued by personnel problems at centre back.
This time, the medical department will help decide on the line-up on the double six. Joshua Kimmich is missing anyway due to his COVID after-effects, while four other candidates were unclear about their availability before the final training session on Monday. Corentin Tolisso is banged up, although Nagelsmann says it is not a structural muscular injury. Jamal Musiala broke his metacarpal bone in the match against Mainz (2:1) and could theoretically play with a splint. The question will be to what extent the pain can be tolerated.
Leon Goretzka was already absent against Mainz due to problems with his patella tendon, his participation is also questionable. Last but not least, Marcel Sabitzer should train with the team again on Monday, he has overcome his calf problems. The fact that Nagelsmann is even thinking about the Austrian in the matchday line-up has to do with the shortage in midfield, as he revealed at the press conference.
It is quite possible that Marc Roca will therefore be allowed to play longer in Stuttgart. The Spaniard has only made two short appearances in the Champions League this season and one substitution in the Bundesliga, on Saturday against Mainz. However, Roca is by no means written off by Nagelsmann: “He is a player with a very strong character who never lets himself down in training despite his limited playing time. I give him a lot of credit for that,” says Bayern’s coach.
He has absolutely improved in the last few weeks.
In Kiev, he had acted a little unhappily because he was too ambitious after his substitution. “Ambition is worth something, though, of course, and now in the Bundesliga he has done well,” praised Nagelsmann, who calls Roca “a very good footballer”. “He has absolutely improved in the last few weeks. The personnel situation might allow him to get more playing time in Stuttgart, but I don’t know one hundred percent yet. “
Furthermore, fatigue is an issue in the line-up, at least in the case of Kingsley Coman. “We have to see if it makes sense to use him so as not to risk injury, “, explained Nagelsmann. Serge Gnabry would be available as a replacement. “I think he is ready again. Serge had games this season in which he could have shown himself more, but on the other hand he had a very good quota. I think an awful lot of him, we need him in a top condition,” says Nagelsmann. Against Salzburg at the latest, preferably already in Stuttgart. He considers VfB, with his former assistant Pellegrino Matarazzo, to be unpredictable. “A team that is very variable and therefore difficult to prepare for. Pellegrino is a mathematician, that’s how he approaches the games. We have to play dominantly and not let them get into their routines. “
