Bayern have been dealt a blow by developments in the Germany camp this week, with the news that Bastian Schweinsteiger and Marcell Jansen will miss their country’s final Euro 2008 qualifiers against Cyprus and Wales, and will also be on the sick list at the club for the near future.
Jansen turned his right ankle while blocking a Roberto Hilbert shot in Thursday training and crumpled to the turf. The injury was taped at the training ground before the 22-year-old was examined at a nearby hospital, where doctors diagnosed a torn anterior ligament.
Jansen out until Christmas
With his ankle in plaster, the left-sided player made his way back to Munich, where he will report to chief medical officer Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt and the coaching staff to determine the next steps in treating the injury. However, Jansen is almost certain to be sidelined for at least the next four weeks, which would rule him out of competitive action until after the festive season.
Schweinsteiger, who returned to Munich from the Germany set-up at the Barsinghausen sports academy on Wednesday afternoon with an inflamed left knee, may not be out of action for as long as his team-mate. The man capped 47 times by his country reported to Müller-Wohlfahrt on Thursday, where the medic diagnosed an irritation of the knee joint capsule.
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The inflammation was probably caused by a blow to the knee or an inappropriate movement in training. “The knee is basically OK, but the capsule is enlarged. It would be too risky to play him. The player’s fitness is the priority,“ Germany assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick advised after reviewing an MRI scan of the injury.
Jansen and Schweinsteiger are not the first Bayern men to sustain injury while preparing for international duty. At the start of the season, Philipp Lahm stretched a knee ligament with Germany and was out of action for six weeks.
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