The defensive situation at FC Bayern remains extremely tense. Now Dayot Upamecano (24) has been affected. Serge Gnaby, on the other hand, is taking his first steps back after breaking his forearm
In one and a half weeks, Bayern will travel to Mainz for their next Bundesliga match, and as things stand, it is not yet clear how Thomas Tuchel will set up the defence on his return to his old stomping ground.
Dayot Upamecano, who was substituted injured in the final phase against Freiburg (3:0) on Sunday, has suffered a muscle injury and will be out for around three weeks. The Frenchman is guaranteed to miss the matches in Mainz, Istanbul, against Darmstadt and probably also the cup match in Saarbrücken. It is also unclear whether he will be able to play again in the top match in Dortmund on 4 November.
It won’t be quite that long for Matthijs de Ligt. The Dutchman, who has a meagre 126 minutes of action this season, has been absent since the beginning of September after suffering a blow to his left knee. Until recently, the pain was so severe that he was unable to train. Yesterday, Tuesday, de Ligt completed a running session again. Should the pain have completely disappeared, the 24-year-old would once again be an alternative for the matchday squad in Mainz.
Defence is the Achilles’ heel
Tuchel already lacked top alternatives in the cup match in Münster (4:0), when all three centre-backs were missing and Leon Goretzka formed the central defensive pairing together with right-back Noussair Mazraoui. Currently, only Min-Jae Kim remains, who is currently preparing for the international matches against Tunisia and Vietnam with the South Korean national team.
First unit for Gnabry after surgery
Serge Gnabry played in the cup match, but broke his forearm early in the game and needed surgery. Now he has taken the first step towards a comeback and has started running training. With his left arm bandaged, he completed a good 30-minute session at Säbener Straße. Nevertheless, it could still be a while before he is fully fit again. In terms of fitness, Gnabry should not lose much, but he must be extremely careful in case of physical contact, as a fall should be avoided in order to avoid resting on the damaged hand. Tuchel had recently put the downtime at four to six weeks.
Tarek Buchmann, who received his first professional contract in the summer, is back in rehabilitation training after tearing a muscle bundle and can be introduced soon. Raphael Guerreiro will be out for a few more weeks with a muscle fibre tear, as will Upamecano.