High-flying Bayern face injury woes as crucial phase looms

BERLIN: Bayern Munich´s home clash with Augsburg on Friday kickstarts a crucial run of fixtures for the German giants, who are struggling under the weight of injuries in key positions.

After Friday´s match, Bayern host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, before a trip to Borussia Dortmund and a German Cup clash with Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern can go eight points clear with a win against Bavarian neighbours Augsburg, who are yet to win away this season. But Bayern will need to do so missing several players along with major question marks in key positions.

The club announced this week that Joao Palhinha had joined fellow defensive midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic on the club´s long-term injury list. Palhinha arrived in the summer from Premier League side Fulham, having been specifically signed to address a weakness in the position.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany looks set to go with the out-of-form Leon Goretzka, who has only started once this season, putting him alongside Joshua Kimmich. On Thursday, Kompany revealed captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was in doubt “with a rib issue”.

“It´s still a bit early,” Kompany said of Neuer´s chances. “We hope he can still start tomorrow. We have to wait and see how it goes in training.” With long-term back-up Sven Ulreich missing “for personal reasons”, third-choice goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, fresh off two clean sheets for Israel, could be handed his first Bundesliga start.

“We assume that ´Manu´ will be able to be there. If that´s not the case, Daniel Peretz will play tomorrow. We have no doubts about him -- he´s been very good with the national team.” Teenage striker Mathys Tel will also miss Friday´s clash with an injury picked up on international duty, putting more weight on the shoulders of Harry Kane.

Defenders Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic, both of whom are yet to play this season, are still weeks away from returning. The failings of Bayern´s rivals will however allow them to breathe a little more easily, at least in the league.

Nearest challengers RB Leipzig have fallen off the pace after dropping five points in their past two games, while defending champion Leverkusen are already nine points behind Bayern. Just 10 games in, Xabi Alonso´s side have dropped 13 points this season -- one more than they did in the entirety of the last campaign. Dortmund, Champions League runners-up last season, are languishing in seventh place.

One to watch: Florian Wirtz

As deep as the struggles of Leverkusen have gone this season, they have not impacted star midfielder Florian Wirtz.

The 21-year-old continues to shine for club and country, leading to rumours this season may be his last in Leverkusen, with Bayern and Real Madrid among the reported suitors. Wirtz´s seven goals and two assists in all competitions belie the true influence of a player who is equally comfortable dropping deep to start an attacking raid or finishing things off up front.

In Tuesday´s 1-1 draw with Hungary in Budapest, Wirtz came off the bench and put in a corner which led to Germany´s opener. He also picked up a yellow card and will miss the Nations League quarter-final first leg. “I screamed at him... it was dumb,” teammate Jamal Musiala said afterwards.