The master breaks the chain
Bayern are only partially ready to defend
03/17/2022, 7:35 p.m
First Niklas Süle injured himself, then Benjamin Pavard tested positive for Corona. Before the Bundesliga game against Union Berlin, Bayern’s defensive chain breaks away. In the storm, Robert Lewandowski struggles with his knee. Borussia Dortmund rumbles from behind. It’s complicated.
This failure really hurts FC Bayern in the middle of the decisive phase of the season. And coach Julian Nagelsmann could be even more concerned about the torn muscle fiber of defender Niklas Süle than Borussia Dortmund’s race to catch up.
With the hard-fought victory in the catch-up game in Mainz, BVB has revived the fight for the title, only four points behind the German series champion. Bayern, however, is threatened with worse: Süle, who was in good form recently and will move to Dortmund on a free transfer at the end of the season, could not only miss a few games in everyday league life but also the quarter-finals of the Champions League after suffering a muscle injury on the back of his right thigh in training , which will be drawn this Friday (12 p.m.) and on 5/6 and 12/13. will be held in April.
Can Lewandowski play?
Süle is “for the time being”, said Bayern vaguely on Thursday. And in the evening the message came that Benjamin Pavard had tested positive for the corona virus. At least for the home game on Saturday (6:30 p.m.) against 1. FC Union Berlin, Nagelsmann will break two-thirds of the current three-man defense. After all, striker Robert Lewandowski was able to run again on Tuesday after a “minor injury” from training according to the club. The irreplaceable world footballer should be able to go back to scoring goals against Union.
But how long will the 100-kilogram giant Süle be out? Two weeks? Or is it more like three or four? The 26-year-old will also not be able to travel to the national team next Monday for the upcoming first international matches of the World Cup year against Israel and the Netherlands.
“I’ll give everything for the club until the last day, hopefully with two titles,” Süle recently announced. This project has been suspended for the time being. Nagelsmann breaks away his currently most stable defender in the center. Dayot Upamecano, who was brought from Leipzig for 42.5 million last summer, must now move from the bench to the center of the chain of three.
Hope for the outsider
Lewandowski and Süle’s injuries are a kind of déjà vu for Bayern. Without the top players Lewandowski, Süle, Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka, they were eliminated from Europe’s premier class in the quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain a year ago. After the 2: 3 in Munich, a 1: 0 in the second leg in the French capital was not enough.
After all: National player Goretzka should be able to play again at the beginning of April and thus for the next knockout round after his long-term knee problems and a break of more than three months. Before the Union game, Bayern look forward to Switzerland. The quarter-final draw will take place at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on Friday.
The seven possible Munich opponents are of very different caliber. And they come from just three countries. England is represented by three clubs with defending champions FC Chelsea, FC Liverpool and Manchester City, as well as Spain with Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and, surprisingly, FC Villarreal. In addition, there are outsiders Benfica Lisbon. Bayern had already played against the Portuguese in the group phase and won both games (4-0, 5-2).
“There is no dream opponent,” national player Jamal Musiala said after Bayern’s round of 16 win against RB Salzburg. After Süle’s failure, it would probably be Villarreal or Benfica.