The Blues lost their smile at Bayern Munich

In Lisbon, among the eight teams competing in the unprecedented Final 8 of the Champions League, Bayern Munich has the third largest contingent of French players with five members. Either as much as the…. Paris SG, if we do not take into account the young Loïc Mbe Soh (19 years old), Arnaud Kalimuendo (18 years old) and Timothée Pembélé (18 years old) who came simply to number in Lisbon. A contingent which will have generally lived a very good season within a Bavarian club crowned champion of Germany for the 30th time in its history, and the 8th time in a row. Except that when it comes to putting an end to this 2019-2020 vintage, oh so complicated with the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting health crisis, the Blues of Bayern are at half mast. Either injured or confined to the sidelines, victims of fierce competition within a Munich team that is the favorite for the title in the Portuguese capital.

Dark stories of injuries ...

Thus, to any 2018 world champion all honor, Benjamin Pavard will not be present this Friday to challenge FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals (9 p.m., RMC Sport). Blame it on a ligament injury to the left ankle that occurred during a simple training session on July 26. Since then, the French defender has embarked on a real race against the clock that will not allow him to be restored in time for the shock against the Blaugrana, but the Bayern staff hope to be able to count on his presence during a possible semi-final against the winner of the opposition between Lyon and Manchester City. An absence that could weigh heavily for the Munich team, as Pavard had succeeded, in his first season in Bavaria, to establish himself as an indisputable holder (45 matches played in all competitions, including 44 in the starting eleven).

@ ivanperisic44 you are French now ❤️ @ BenPavard28 @ CorentinTolisso @ BenPavard28 @ LucasHernandezpic.twitter.com / bYHwyPMKsA

This was not the case with his world champion partner Lucas Hernandez two years ago. The fault, again, to an injury. Namely a partial rupture of the internal ligament of the right ankle which had forced him to give up his place last October 22 against Olympiakos in the Champions League. An injury that sidelined him for four months. Back on the pitch to face Paderborn on February 21, Hernandez was having bad luck this time with all competitions being suspended due to the health crisis. And since the resumption of competitions, the Frenchman has had to be content with a replacement role behind the revelation of the season, Alphonso Davies, whom he may have had trouble dethroning on the left flank, knowing that in the axis, the Jérôme Boateng-David Alaba tandem seems well established.

For Tolisso and Coman, the competition is tough

Third and last 2018 world champion of the Bavarian squad, Corentin Tolisso is in much the same situation as Hernandez. Operated on the left ankle at the end of April, the former Lyonnais missed the entire end of the Bundesliga, which means that he arrives in Lisbon with no real playing time in official competition, except 20 minutes against Chelsea in the 8th final return that he had perfectly exploited by scoring a goal during the clear success of his training (4-1). But this will not be enough, a priori, to upset the hierarchy established in the Munich midfield with a tandem Thiago Alcantara-Leon Goretzka particularly efficient in the absence of Tolisso, doomed to a role of luxury joker in Final 8.

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Wounds, again and again: this is Kingsley Coman's sad daily bread. Feeling muscle pain before the match against Chelsea, the former Parisian had wisely preferred to give up so as not to compromise his chances of being present in Lisbon. This is the case, since he is feeling much better and appears to be fully recovered. But like Tolisso and Hernandez, nobody expected him at Bayern and the competition promises to be fierce against Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic to accompany Thomas Müller and Serge Gnabry in the line of three attacking midfielders supporting Robert Lewandowski. As for the last Frenchman in the Munich group, Michael Cuisance, he should still be patient before playing the first minutes of his young career - at 20 - in the Champions League. In other words, against Barça, we must expect that Bayern is a very French note only on his bench. While waiting for better.  

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