Bochum confirm new injury setback for Bernardo, Bero ruled out, Pannewig to start at left back?

Heavily linked with a move away from the Revierklub this past offseason, 29-year-old Brazilian left-back/central defender Bernardo remains a VfL Bochum player only by virtue of the fact that a nasty knee injury torpedoed his outgoing transfer hopes. The road-to-recovery nevertheless remains a long one and the former RB Salzburg/Brighton & Hove Albion professional has not yet logged a single minute of action for his German club yet this season. 

This looks to continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday, Bochum confirmed on their social media channels that Bernardo will be returning to his native country after suffering a setback on the club training pitch. No further information was provided, including when the Sao-Paulo native might even be expected to return to the Bundesrepublik. The 1848ers have had great difficulty filling Bernardo's boots this year, with Maximilian Wittek delivering inconsistent performances out of position. 

The Bundesliga's last-placed team scheduled an ambitious international break that featured a high-profile test fixture against recent first division Ruhr rivals 1. FC Köln. Teenage German midfield talent Mats Pannewig made a rather strong impression filling in for Wittek at left back when the 29-year-old had to exit proceedings injured in the 9th. While Peter Zeidler's team ended up dropping the exhibition 2-3 to Gerhard Struber's Geißböcke, a sable 4-4-2 diamond from Bochum largely performed well. 

VfL skipper Anthony Losilla worked the midfield base of the diamond following Wittek's injury and will likely do so again. News that attacker Matus Bero will be unavailable for Zeidler against Hoffenheim on Saturday may prove a moot point as German Mortiz-Broni Kwarteng filled in well for Bero on the left-hand side of the attack and scored a goal. Kwarteng, having recovered from his own minor injury setback, should be available to start again in Sinsheim.