Thomas Tuchel appears to be without some of Bayern Munich’s key attacking weapons after Kingsley Coman limped off in Saturday’s win, while several others could also be missing.
Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel will be without Kingsley Coman next week after his forced departure on Saturday.
The Bavarians won in Stuttgart with the return match with Arsenal on Wednesday clearly in mind. The Germans will welcome the Gunners back to the Allianz Arena with a well-balanced quarter-final at 2-2 after an entertaining outing at the Emirates.
Coman will now be out due to injury despite Tuchel taking precautions by making massive changes for the match. The Frenchman was introduced on the bench against Arsenal but had to be helped off after 50 minutes due to injury.
The Bayern boss has since admitted that Coman’s campaign appears to be over. He told Sky: “The big downside of the whole game is the injury to Kingsley Coman. It makes me very sad because I know how hard he has worked and how important he is to us. Serge Gnabry is first absent, then he and Leroy Sane there are doubts. [for Wednesday]”.
Jamal Musiala, who was among the big names rested, had to replace him. The Germany international was one of several big names not to start for Stuttgart, with Alphonso Davies, Leon Goretzka and Konrad Laimer all taking their places on the bench.
The lightning pair of Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane were both ruled out beforehand, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also absent, having just recovered from a groin problem.
Champions League success is the only realistic hope for Bayern, with the Bundesliga all but over. They conquered Europe in 2020 with Tuchel winning the European Cup while in charge of Chelsea just a year later. Arsenal needed a Leandro Trossard equalizer to secure a draw when they hosted Bayern during the week.
Bayer Leverkusen, who are yet to taste defeat this season, can win their first ever Bundesliga title on Sunday, but Tuchel admitted he would be tuning in to Arsenal’s match against Aston Villa instead.
He was asked if he would watch Leverkusen’s match against Werder Bremen, where a victory for the home side would confirm their league title, but he replied: “No. I’m going to watch Arsenal.”
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