Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel on Monday provided a fresh insight into the personnel situation in his squad.
As much, of course, comes ahead of Bayern’s return to action on the continent, in just 24 hours’ time.
Tuchel and his coaching staff have been forced to face up to nothing short of a crisis on the injury front, over the course of the last week.
With Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sané still struggling, and Kingsley Coman ruled out for what is expected to be the remainder of the campaign, Dayot Upamecano and Jamal Musiala were then forced into last-minute withdrawals from the Bavarians’ squad to face Eintracht Frankfurt over the weekend.
Incredibly, a further pair of blows were then forthcoming over the course of the 90 minutes at the Allianz Arena, Konrad Laimer and Matthijs de Ligt limping out of the action.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final first-leg showdown with Real Madrid on Tuesday, the aforementioned Thomas Tuchel, in turn, was inevitably asked for the latest fitness news in his ranks.
And the German, as cited by Sport1, went on to reveal that whilst midfielder Laimer looks likely to feature, attackers Sané and Musiala are facing up to last-minute fitness tests:
“It looks best with Konni (Laimer). And then we’ll see what happens with Leroy and Jamal. They are always being treated, including now again. [It will be] a last-minute decision. Last minute, if possible, means today, after the final training.”
Turning attentions towards defence, Tuchel then added that both De Ligt and Upamecano look set to miss out:
“For Matta (de Ligt), I think it’s still a bit too early, and for Upa (Upamecano) too, based on my last view.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
