International breaks have often brought bad news for Bayern Munich, as players have often got injured while playing in friendly games for national teams. The Bavarian club has a good squad to compete on all fronts, but they cannot afford to have injuries in central defense due to limited options in this position.
It does look like bad news on the injury front has arrived for Bayern even before the start of the international break. The French football federation released a statement on Monday to reveal that Dayot Upamecano will not be part of the squad for the next two games due to a hamstring injury. Chelsea’s Axel Disasi has replaced Upamecano in the French squad.
Dayot Upamecano featured in Bayern’s 3-0 win against Freiburg on Sunday. The French defender was substituted in the 77th minute due to a knock. It does look like that knock was much more serious than the initial assessment. Bayern is yet to confirm the timeline for Upamecano’s unavailability due to injury.
Thomas Tuchel will be hoping that Dayot Upamecano recovers in the next two weeks to be fit for the game against Mainz on October 21. The French defender has been in fine form for Rekordmeister alongside Kim Min-jae in the heart of defense.
Upamecano’s injury comes at the wrong time for Bayern since Matthijs de Ligt is also currently on the sidelines due to a knee injury. The Dutch defender was expected to be fit for the game against Freiburg, but he needs a few more weeks to complete the recovery.
As things stand, Kim Min-jae is the only senior center-back fit for Bayern. The Bavarian club will hope that he doesn’t suffer any injury while playing for South Korea in the next two weeks. Konrad Laimer, Leon Goretzka, and Noussair Mazraoui are the other senior players that can play central defense if Upamecano and De Ligt are not fit for the game against Mainz.
Bayern thought about bringing Jerome Boateng back to the club when they had no senior center-back fit for the game against Preussen Munster. The Bavarian club eventually decided against signing Boateng after allowing him to train at Sabner Strasse.
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Meanwhile, Tarek Buchmann is closing on a return to action after a spell on the sidelines due to injury. He is expected to be fully fit in three weeks. The young defender is part of the senior squad this summer. He could well make his debut for the senior team during Hinrunde if injury issues in central defense don’t subside.