Bayern Munich are enjoying a flying start to the new season. They sit top of the Bundesliga with four wins from five games and started their Champions League campaign with a 4-3 win against Manchester United.
While Sven Ulreich has done a fine job in goal everyone is eagerly anticipating the return of Manuel Neuer. The club legend has made over 300 appearances for Die Roten and has been a staple of the German national team since 2009.
The great German shot-stopper has been rehabbing following a serious leg injury he suffered while skiing at Roßkopf on Spitzingsee in Bavaria. That injury he sustained in December would force him to miss the rest of the 2022 season and the start of this season.
There was optimism that Neuer would be close to returning this month, but there seems to be a delay in the original timeline outlined by Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.
Manuel Neuer suffers delay in return from injury
Thomas Tuchel had originally planned for Neuer to return to team training this week following his work individually with the goalkeeper coach last week.
He was pictured diving and showing no ill-effect from his injury, but BILD has reported that Neuer was nowhere to be seen at team training and instead continued his work off to the side with the goalkeeper coach. The Bayern coach has explained the slight delay in his return, and fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be significant:
"“The injury is actually not really an injury. There are more complaints. That’s what I would call it. Calf pain! Which are very diffuse, which sometimes come and sometimes go. Which don’t really have anything to do with jumping technique or muscle contraction. But they are just there and disturbing.”"
Experiencing pain and discomfort in muscles around the bone that have suffered an impact injury is not uncommon, but it’s another speed bump in the road to recovery for a goalkeeper who just turned 37 in March. Neuer was spotted in the training on Monday, but the Bavarian club is not setting a date for his return. It does look like the German international will finally return by the end of the international break in October.
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Bayern will get a glimpse of the future with Daniel Peretz set to make his debut tomorrow night against Munster in the DFB Pokal.
Peretz was brought in from Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer with the plan to develop him to eventually take over from Neuer when the great German decides to hang up his gloves.
Tuchel explained that the DFB Pokal offered a perfect opportunity to get Peretz sometime between the posts and that was a common rotation he experienced while managing in the Premier League.