Bayern Munich’s smooth passage into the Champions League knockout
stage hit a speed bump on Wednesday when it emerged that their versatile
Austrian international David Alaba could be out for the rest of the
year.
All appeared well for Pep Guardiola’s side when they beat Roma 2-0 at the Allianz Arena to maintain their perfect record after four games and advance to the Round of 16 by winning their group with two games to spare, the fastest ever by a German team.
However, the influential Alaba limped off with a knee-ligament problem in the 81st minute and is likely to be out for several months.
“We will be missing a super type of player, who plays outstanding football,” Guardiola said.
Further medical checks to determine the extent of his ligament injury will be conducted in Munich later on Thursday but his Spanish coach is already resigned to losing the player for a good chunk of the season.
“It is a shame, a real pity because he could be out for two or three months. I hope he will be back after Christmas because he is extremely important for us because of his flexibility,” he said.
Alaba started in defence but switched positions throughout the match, tormenting the Italians with darting runs as he set Franck Ribéry up for the opener and had several attempts on goal himself, including a long-range free-kick that just missed.
The 22-year-old Austrian is usually deployed as a full-back, combining down the left flank with Ribéry but is equally effective in Bayern’s midfield, as was the case on Wednesday.
Bayern are already missing the injured midfield trio of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martínez, though Dante, Medhi Benatia and Jerome Boateng are all capable of covering for Alaba, while Philipp Lahm and Rafinha can both play at left-back.
All appeared well for Pep Guardiola’s side when they beat Roma 2-0 at the Allianz Arena to maintain their perfect record after four games and advance to the Round of 16 by winning their group with two games to spare, the fastest ever by a German team.
However, the influential Alaba limped off with a knee-ligament problem in the 81st minute and is likely to be out for several months.
“We will be missing a super type of player, who plays outstanding football,” Guardiola said.
Further medical checks to determine the extent of his ligament injury will be conducted in Munich later on Thursday but his Spanish coach is already resigned to losing the player for a good chunk of the season.
“It is a shame, a real pity because he could be out for two or three months. I hope he will be back after Christmas because he is extremely important for us because of his flexibility,” he said.
Alaba started in defence but switched positions throughout the match, tormenting the Italians with darting runs as he set Franck Ribéry up for the opener and had several attempts on goal himself, including a long-range free-kick that just missed.
The 22-year-old Austrian is usually deployed as a full-back, combining down the left flank with Ribéry but is equally effective in Bayern’s midfield, as was the case on Wednesday.
Bayern are already missing the injured midfield trio of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martínez, though Dante, Medhi Benatia and Jerome Boateng are all capable of covering for Alaba, while Philipp Lahm and Rafinha can both play at left-back.
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