Does the return of Manuel Neuer delay further? After FC Bayern’s Champions League match at Galatasaray, FCB coach Thomas Tuchel certainly didn’t want to commit himself to having the 2014 World Cup winner back in goal against Darmstadt on Saturday.
“We have to wait and see, talk to ‘Manu’,” Thomas Tuchel said on “Prime” after the 3:1 in the premier class in Istanbul on Tuesday. So is the return of the 37-year-old delayed further? Because initially, Neuer had already been expected to return to goal in Bayern’s last away match in Mainz in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
“He wants to anyway” – But can Neuer also?
In the 3:1 in Mainz, however, Sven Ulreich was again in the Munich goal. Neuer also did not travel to Istanbul for the Champions League match, instead continuing to prepare for his comeback in Munich, which is now targeted for the upcoming Bundesliga home match against Darmstadt on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). Tuchel’s comments, meanwhile, cast doubt on whether the comeback will actually happen this weekend. If he can, Tuchel qualified, then Neuer will play. “He wants to anyway,” said the 50-year-old.
For Neuer, it would be the first Bundesliga game since November 12, 2022, when Bayern won 2-0 at his former club Schalke 04 with him in goal. Neuer played his last competitive match in the German national team jersey against Costa Rica at the World Cup in Qatar on December 1, 2022. Despite the 4-2 victory of the DFB team in the third group match against the Central Americans, Germany had to travel home third in the table. Shortly afterwards, Neuer had broken his right tibia and fibula while skiing in his homeland on December 9.
Despite great chances: Ulreich in Istanbul only overcome from the point
Should Neuer’s return be postponed again, his deputy Ulreich would probably get another call-up in the Bayern goal. The 35-year-old was only to be overcome once in total during Tuesday’s success in Istanbul, despite numerous top-class Galatasaray chances just before the break – and that was through a foul penalty by Mauro Icardi.
