After the 2-2 draw against Arsenal in the Champions League, Bayern boss Jan-Christian Dreesen praised the team for their strong performance - and highlighted the performance of an unlucky person.
London – “Those who were declared dead live longer.”: This is how FC Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen began his banquet speech, addressed to the stars, shortly after the spectacular 2-2 draw in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League against Arsenal FC. After the disastrous performances in the league against Dortmund (0:2) and Heidenheim (2:3), the necessary reaction followed.
Bayern's starting position before the second leg is good, Tuchel now has a place in the semi-finals in his own hands. But after the first leg there are once again new injury concerns for the record champions. Serge Gnabry, of all people, is out again. He was one of the best players against Arsenal - and received special praise from Dreesen.
Bayern boss thanks unlucky Serge Gnabry
“We achieved this fantastic result and today (…) I would like to highlight, first and foremost, our Serge Gnabry. “Serge fought back after a long injury break and scored a fantastic goal,” said Dreesen, praising the national player, who only returned from a muscle injury at the end of February. Gnabry had already been out this season with a broken forearm, hip problems and illness.
“Thank you very much for your great goal, Serge,” Dreesen even personally thanked the 28-year-old for the goal to equalize the score at 1-1. “And of course, above all, get well soon. Of course, we all saw that you had to go out injured and we sincerely wish you a speedy recovery,” added Dreesen.
Torn muscle fiber in the thigh: Bayern again without Gnabry for a few weeks
Gnabry had to be substituted against Arsenal in the 70th minute after a few minutes of treatment on the field. The next day, the record champions announced the diagnosis. According to the club, the offensive player suffered “a torn muscle fiber in his left back thigh”. The Munich-based company did not give an exact downtime.
What is certain, however, is that Gnabry definitely cannot help in the fight for the semi-finals in the second leg. This makes him the second star who will not be available to Tuchel next Wednesday. Gnabry will have to watch from the sidelines for at least two to three weeks. Even an appearance in the possible semi-final first leg on April 30th or May 1st is in jeopardy.
The new injury at the end of the season comes at an inopportune time not only for Bayern, but also for Gnabry himself. The 45-time national player actually wanted to fight for a place in Julian Nagelsmann's European Championship squad through good performances in the next few weeks. This project has now been stopped for the time being - Dreesen's words of praise are unlikely to provide much consolation.
(LuHa)