Now that the weekend game is over, Barcelona fans are now fully allowed to think about the UEFA Champions League semifinal encounter as they host German side Bayern Munich on Wednesday 6th May 2015. A pivotal match with a giant number of story lines awaits every soccer fan around the world, and one of those story lines is the litany of injuries that have hit Bayern lately.
Pep Guardiola is used to dealing with contusions and serious knocks since arriving in Germany, but in this campaign, the problems have reached another level. Every single important player on the squad has suffered from a physical problem so far, and the Bavarians will deal with some serious blows to their rotation as they get ready to play at Camp Nou next Wednesday.
Here’s a list of the injured Bayern players going into this tie:
Player, Injury, Status (Expected Return)
Franck Ribéry, Ankle, Day-to-day (could play the second leg)
Arjen Robben, Left calf muscle tear, Out for Season
David Alaba, Left knee ligament tear, Late May
Holger Badstuber, Left thigh muscle tear, Out for Season
Robert Lewandowski, Broken jaw and nose + concussion, Unclear
Ribéry and Lewandowski are the only two with the slightest chance of appearing in the tie. The Polish striker is promising to return (he’s even rocking a sweet mask), but no one in their right mind would let a guy with his face broken and still recovering from concussion play just eight days later.
Barça will take any advantage they can get in such a tough duel against one of the best teams in the world. Injuries are sad, but we’ll take it anyway.
