Manuel Neuer is back in training. The world’s number one shot-stopper, who suffered a minor foot injury last week, completed half an hour of goalkeeper training on Friday morning. “Everything’s going to plan,” reported Carlo Ancelotti afterwards. However Neuer won’t be fit in time for Saturday’s Bundesliga game at home to Borussia Dortmund. “Tomorrow is a bit too soon. We won’t take any risks,” said the FCB head coach.
The same goes for Thomas Müller, who picked up an ankle injury during last weekend’s game against Augsburg. On Friday he continued his recovery programme with a jogging session on the grass but the Dortmund game will also come too soon for him. Ancelotti expects the pair to return to full training on Sunday. “They’ll certainly be available against Real Madrid.”
Costa returns
There will at least be one returning player on Saturday, though: Douglas Costa. After three weeks out with a knee injury, the Brazilian has been back training with the squad since Wednesday. “He can play tomorrow,” said Ancelotti, who also confirmed he won’t rotate against Dortmund. “We need our best performance and our best line-up. There’ll be no rotation.”
One player who’s guaranteed to start is Jérôme Boateng. “He’s fresh and will play tomorrow. I still need to decide whether Martínez or Hummels gets a rest.” Whoever does will then start against Real Madrid, added Ancelotti.
Several doubts for Dortmund
There’s news on the personnel front for Dortmund, too. According to coach Thomas Tuchel, Julian Weigl, Shinji Kagawa, Lukasz Piszczek and Marc Bartra are all doubtful for the crunch game in Munich. Marco Reus, André Schürrle, Erik Durm and Mario Götze will definitely be absent.
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