Injury worse than first feared for Neuer as diagnosis confirmed
| Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images |
The 39-year-old was withdrawn at half-time during Bayern’s 3-0 Bundesliga victory over Werder Bremen on Sunday, with Jonas Urbig introduced in his place. Initially the injury was described as “nothing serious” by sporting director Christoph Freund, now the club themselves have confirmed that examinations revealed a muscle fibre tear in his calf which will sideline the goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.
Urbig will step up as Bayern’s number one while Neuer recovers, starting with the upcoming home fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt. Neuer is certain to miss that encounter, while his availability for Der Klassiker the following week remains in serious doubt with some outlets such as BILD reporting a potential three week recovery period.
Despite his age, Neuer has once again been a key figure for Bayern this season, making 27 appearances in all competitions and keeping eight clean sheets.
