The personnel problems in FC Bayern Munich’s defense are not going away. Matthijs de Ligt injured his knee again. How long the Dutchman will be out is uncertain.
The defense is FC Bayern’s problem area. That hasn’t changed even after Eric Dier was signed. As the Munich team announced on Monday, Matthijs de Ligt has suffered a capsule injury in his left knee. This was the result of an MRI scan in Portugal, where the team is currently in a short training camp. The 24-year-old Dutchman had already missed eleven competitive games in the first half of the season due to a blow and a torn medial ligament in his knee – at that time his right knee was affected.
Upamecano and Dier are also missing from training
It is currently unclear how long the Dutchman will be out for. A game on Sunday against Werder Bremen (January 21st, from 3:30 p.m. in the radio report on BR24Sport) seems extremely unlikely. How many central defenders coach Thomas Tuchel will have available for the official start of the second half of the season will become clear in the coming days. In addition to de Ligt, Dayot Upamecano also missed training on Tuesday. And new signing Eric Dier left the German record champions’ camp because his wife gave birth to their child. Min-jae Kim, number four central defender in the FC Bayern squad, is currently with South Korea at the Asian Cup.
It could well happen that midfielder Leon Goretzka will have to help out in central defense again – Tuchel had laughed when confirming the Dier transfer and announced that he could relieve Goretzka of this task in the future. The Munich team also continues to have problems in the right-back position. Noussair Mazraoui traveled to the Africa Cup of Nations injured. Bouna Sarr has torn his cruciate ligament and is unlikely to play for FC Bayern again given his contract is expiring. In the 3-0 win over TSG Hoffenheim last Friday, Konrad Laimer and later Joshua Kimmich shared this task.
Pressure on friend is growing – is Mukiele coming now?
The pressure on sports director Christoph Freund is increasing again to strengthen the squad in the transfer period that runs until February 1st. Nordi Mukiele from Paris Saint-Germain is currently considered the most promising candidate for a winter move to Munich. The 26-year-old Frenchman can play as a right-winger, a left-winger and a central defender – so there would be no shortage of opportunities for him to play at FC Bayern.
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Source: BR24Sport on the radio January 16, 2024 – 8:54 p.m