Goretzka 'likely to play' against his home club

There's no respite from the action: hot on the heels of the  2-1 win against Union Berlin in the Bundesliga, FC Bayern's next challenge awaits on Tuesday (8 pm CET), when the Reds travel to VfL Bochum in the second round of the DFB Cup  - and one Bayern pro in particular will probably be well up for the game against the Bundesliga 2 outfit:

Leon Goretzka wore the VfL shirt from 2001 to 2013. Following his thigh operation in September, the 24-year-old has enjoyed some brief outings from the bench and can therefore look forward to an appearance against his former club. "Leon was out for a long time. We have to try to bring him on. It looks likely he'll be able to play against his home club tomorrow," revealed head coach Niko Kovač in Monday's press conference ahead of the cup game.

However, Tuesday evening will probably prove to be too early for an appearance by Javi Martínez, who is suffering from thigh problems. "Javi isn't quite ready and we can't yet count on him. It'll more likely be the weekend," explained the 48-year-old tactician. With the exception of long-term injury victims Niklas Süle (cruciate ligament rupture), Fiete Arp (scaphoid fracture) and Lucas Hernández (ankle surgery), all players are fit, remarked Kovač.