Two days ahead of the DFB German Cup tie away to Wacker Burghausen, Marcell Jansen rates as a major doubt for Bayern. The left-back, who only resumed the first team training programme the previous day after shaking off an upper arm problem, was forced to sit out Saturday’s team session. The 21-year-old has stretched a tendon in his ankle after taking a blow to the foot on his return to the practice ground. “He’s doubtful for Monday,” head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld confirmed.
Should Jansen fail to recover, the Reds boss would be without a total of seven players for the first truly competitive game of the new campaign, as Willy Sagnol, Jan Schlaudraff, Valérien Ismael, Lukas Podolski, Luca Toni and Mats Hummels are all definitely out. Jansen’s likely replacement would be Christian Lell, who filled the full-back position in Saturday’s squad workout, although utility man Hamit Altintop is another potential stand-in.
Waiting for Toni
If the penultimate training session before the tie provides any kind of indication, Hitzfeld appears set to field a two-man forward line comprising Miroslav Klose and Franck Ribéry in Burghausen. Lukas Podolski, seen with the ball at his feet for the first time since a knee operation in the spring, still has some way to go with his rehab programme, while summer signing Luca Toni will remain sidelined for a while longer.
According to Hitzfeld, the Italian will not be fit to undertake the squad workout until Thursday next week. Toni is therefore a major doubt for the Bundesliga opener at home to Hansa Rostock on 11 August. The original hope was for the striker to be back in training by now, but the coach called for patience as the healing process had taken longer than expected.
Banging them in
The centre-forward went jogging again on Saturday, before rounding off his individual workout in highly promising fashion as fitness coach Riccardo Proietti sent over a string of crosses for the Italian to bury with his head or on the volley. Goalkeeping coach Walter Junghans gamely positioned himself between the sticks but rarely came close to stopping any of the goalbound efforts. Bayern fans will be keen to see Toni display the same instinctive quality for real as soon as possible.
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