Bayern still without Musiala for Bundesliga restart
Bayern Munich will be missing several players including Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala but will have goalkeeper Manuel Neuer back for its Bundesliga restart against visitors Wolfsburg after the winter break, coach Vincent Kompany has revealed.
The Bavarian side, undefeated this season in the league, will also be without Sacha Boey and Alphonso Davies as is looks to extend its eight-point lead at the top of the table.
Kompany said Germany international Musiala, who sustained a fibula fracture and a broken ankle at the FIFA Club World Cup in July last year, was on the verge of a comeback but this match is still too soon.
"He will not be available yet for this game," Kompany said. "We are close but we don't want to take the last step too quickly. This week was good for him. He did the full training sessions."
Bayern is in top spot on 41 points, eight ahead of second-placed Borussia Dortmund, which needed a stoppage-time goal to rescue a 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (AEDT), and will increase its lead with a win.
"I want to see our strengths, no matter the opponent," Kompany said. "I want to see us at home being Bayern Munich and even against tough opponents play our game."
Bayern has never lost in Munich against Wolfsburg in 28 league matches, having won 26 of them and drawn two.
Kompany also came to the defence of his young star Lennart Karl after he was criticised for comments regarding a potential future move to Real Madrid.
During a Bayern supporters group event, Karl called Los Blancos his “dream club” and expressed a desire to one day join the LaLiga giant.
“I try to view it from a bit of a distance. Everyone has to go through a storm sometimes. Then it's important to see the big picture,” Kompany said of Karl's comments.
“Lennart trains very hard every day. He works hard for the team, defensively as well. He delivers every day, in meetings too.
“He maybe made a slight communicative error, but he's concentrating on the important things, he's had a good week of training. He's done so much to earn his minutes in games. His quality is clear, he's doing a lot right.
“He spoke with Christoph [Freund] and Max [Eberl] and apologised, which I also like. I've tried to be the only one who doesn't speak to him about it.
“If ever he doesn't give 100 percent, then he has a problem with me, but he's trained and played very well.”
