The football World Cup in Qatar is only three days old, but the controversial major event in the desert state has already made plenty of negative headlines. At Bayern, too, one or the other curse should have been uttered since Tuesday evening at the latest.
Lucas Hernández had to leave the pitch after just 13 minutes of the French team’s 4-1 win over Australia. It quickly seemed clear that the FC Bayern defender could have been hit harder, and the French FA finally gave the bitter confirmation just a few hours after the final whistle.
Hernández tore his right cruciate ligament against the Socceroos and is unlikely to play this season. Further investigations in Munich will help to clarify the exact downtime. This is followed by an operation by knee specialist Dr. Finch in Innsbruck.
“Lucas Hernández has torn the cruciate ligament in his right knee, the doctors of the French national team have informed us. Of course we are all shocked and very much regret it. But Lucas is a fighter and will come back strong. He will leave Doha very soon, come to us, then have an operation and start his rehabilitation in Munich. He gets all the support that is possible,” said Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic in an official statement on “fcbayern.comquoted.
Does FC Bayern play with fire?
However, regardless of how long the 26-year-old will be out, Salihamidzic has no plans to sign a replacement. The 45-year-old confirmed this to “table football“. “We will not do anything in winter,” is the clear message from the Bayern boss.
A circumstance that is quite surprising, precisely because the Munich team is not really lavishly occupied in the middle of the defense. Only Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt and Benjamin Pavard are still available. Pavard is also mostly in demand as a right-back.