Thiago Alcantara has arguably been the best Bayern Munich player this season, so it’s only fitting he’ll now miss several weeks with an ankle injury.
Tuesday was a disappointing day for Bayern Munich. Despite securing a 2-1 win in the DFB Pokal and advancing to the competition’s quarterfinals, there’s not much positive that can be said about the Bavarians’ 2-1 win over fourth division side SV Rodinghausen.
Bayern was a far superior unit for the opening 25 minutes or so. But a missed penalty from Renato Sanches began the spiral that sent Die Roten into complete disarray. Despite what the possession stats and total number of shots would suggest, the Bavarians were far from dominant for the final 60 minutes of the match.
As if things were not already bad enough, matters were made much worse with a bit of news announced earlier this morning. Spanish maestro Thiago Alcantara — who left yesterday’s match in the 75th minute and could not walk of his own accord after the game — has suffered ligament tearing in his right ankle.
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Though the announcement from Bayern’s official website gives no indication of exactly how long Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt believes the Spaniard will be sidelined, we’ve more than likely seen the last of Thiago for 2019.
With a massive match against Borussia Dortmund just around the corner, this injury has come at the worst possible time for Bayern. Thiago has been a mainstay in the Bavarian midfield under Niko Kovac and one of the club’s best performers of the season so far — though that may not be saying much.
Thiago has only registered one goal and one assist across his eight Bundesliga starts this season, but that is perhaps a result of him often playing a deeper position in midfield. Maybe his most impressive stat is the 3.3 tackles he is averaging per game in the German top flight.
He now joins the likes of Kingsley Coman and Corentin Tolisso on Bayern’s long-term absentee list. With Thiago out of the lineup, massive expectations will be placed on Leon Goretzka and Renato Sanches to step up. The two youngsters have been impressive in their own rights for much of this season, but now they must deliver even more.
The pressure is doubled on Niko Kovac, though. The Croatian was already having a hard time getting his men to play in a convincing manner on the pitch. Now he must come up with a solution without the help of his preferred midfielder.