Munich (dpa) – The day after his Bundesliga record, Manuel Neuer had to go under the knife and will be missing from Bayern for weeks.
The national soccer goalkeeper also looked a little battered after the surprising operation on his right knee when he got out of the hospital bed and gave his thumbs up.
“Everything went great, so I can start the rehabilitation training soon,” the 35-year-old wrote to his fans the day after the 3-2 win against RB Leipzig in the high-speed spectacle. How long the captain will have to pause shortly before the start of the knockout stages of the Champions League cannot be predicted. The Munich limited the period to “the coming weeks”.
Concerns like after Neuer’s metatarsal fractures in 2017/18 were not heard from club circles after the operation on the knee. But ten days before the round of 16 first leg in Europe’s best league at RB Salzburg, the Munich Neuers are painful. “All of us at the club and the whole team wish Manuel a speedy recovery and we are sure that he will soon be in top form with us again,” said sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic. The second leg against Salzburg will take place in Munich on March 8th.
Neuer: “See you very soon on the pitch”
As with the one-year absence due to metatarsal fractures, the German champions can again count on Sven Ulreich as a substitute, but Neuer wants to be back quickly. “Keep your fingers crossed! See you soon on the pitch,” was his message. There was talk in the media of an intervention on the meniscus. There was no further information from the club.
Up until Sunday evening it looked as if Neuer could aim for his 311th Bundesliga win in Bochum next week and thus the sole record. In the 3-2 win against Leipzig, the national goalkeeper equaled Oliver Kahn’s record. The former goalkeeping ‘Titan’ will be following Neuer’s recovery closely, knowing how important match practice is for a goalkeeper right now.
Second new failure in a short time
For Neuer, it is the second failure in a short time after his corona infection at the beginning of the year. In the 2-1 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach, he was replaced by Ulreich, who was not able to present himself as an equal substitute, at least in this game. Most recently, Neuer had repeatedly trained away from the team. The reason given was the load control.
Although it cannot be assumed that the intervention at Neuer will affect the basic calculations of the Munich team for a contract extension, injuries have a different meaning in advanced professional age. “The plan is: as long as I’m fit, as long as I’m healthy, as long as I’m needed, as long as it’s fun, I’ll keep playing,” Neuer said the day before. In front of 10,000 spectators he celebrated his 310th Bundesliga win in 458 games. His current boss Kahn once needed 557 matches for the record.
FCB wants to keep the trio around Neuer
Most recently, there was speculation about a new contract for Neuer until 2025. “I would be happy if all three would end their careers at FC Bayern. And I also firmly believe that this will happen,” said President Herbert Hainer on the TV station Bild about Neuer, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller. “The three know what they have in Bayern. We know what we have in these three players. Thomas Müller belongs to Bayern like the Frauenkirche belongs to Munich.”
The contracts of Neuer, Lewandowski (33) and Müller (32) are still dated until June 30, 2023. “If I look at the calendar correctly, there’s still a bit of time until 2023. There’s still a day on which enough talks can be held,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann.
A similar scenario as with Niklas Süle, who leaves the club free of charge at the end of the season, is ruled out by the Munich team for the trio of club icons. Neuer himself was bothered by the situation around defender Süle. “We are all annoyed that Niklas is leaving. We will miss him,” said the national goalkeeper.
Süle, whom Neuer described as a “cornerstone”, and the club bosses had not been able to agree on extending the contract, which expired at the end of the season, primarily for economic reasons. Süle had the feeling “not being valued enough,” said consultant Volker Struth on Sunday in the Sport1 double pass. According to Struth, the new club should already be set.
As a secure backing, Neuer himself made a decisive contribution to the fact that Munich celebrated a victory that was finally celebrated with fans in the stadium again thanks to goals from Müller, Lewandowski and an own goal by Josko Gvardiol. “Every game you win is a big point,” said Joshua Kimmich. The news that Borussia Dortmund lost 5-2 to Bayer Leverkusen and are now nine points behind made for joy.