Alphonso Davies returned to Munich from the Canadian national team with a torn cruciate ligament. Dayot Upamecano suffered cartilage damage in his knee while playing for the French national team and had to undergo surgery. These failures were largely responsible for Bayern being eliminated in the quarter-finals against Inter Milan. In the 1:2 in the first leg, Upamecano’s representative Min-jae Kim made mistakes on both goals. And in the second leg, Munich couldn’t get past a 2-2 draw in Italy.
The former Munich player Kingsley Coman also returned from the French national team with an injury. He could only be used again as a substitute in the second leg. Captain Manuel Neuer (torn muscle fiber), Jamal Musiala (torn muscle bundle) and Hiroki Itō (fractured metatarsal) were also injured at the time.
“That really, really, really hurt us at the time,” Eberl remembered. “Now we hope that the boys come back healthy when they go to the national team. And when we have the boys there, then I have a really good feeling about going into these really fantastic weeks.” The international break looms over the Munich team like a sword of Damocles.
When asked about Eberl’s warning words, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen told t-online: “Max is absolutely right. Because if you are in the flow like we are now, if you are in this rhythm, even with three games a week, then it can continue like this. Unfortunately, that is not the case now.” And further: “Of course, we first hope that everyone returns healthy from this international break. And then we have to find the rhythm again.”
It couldn’t be ignored: If Bayern could have chosen, they would probably have preferred to skip the international break and go straight on to the Champions League duels with Madrid.
Coach Vincent Kompany also commented on the problems that came with the international break in March last year. “Of course I understand Max and Jan’s feeling. Last year, Christoph, Max and I gave each other a high-five because everyone was fit before the start of the international break,” said the Belgian before the game against Union. “We thought: Now we can take a week’s break and then things can really get going. And then four players were suddenly injured.” So are Bayern now threatened with bitter déjà vu?
