A long streak will come to an end on Saturday when Bayern Munich hosts Augsburg at Allianz Arena.
Manuel Neuer, who has started 65 straight Bundesliga matches for Bayern, will be forced to the bench after injuring his foot in training on Wednesday. That means a streak of 5,850 straight minutes played will be snapped.
The injury required minor surgery, which was performed by club doctor Markus Walther, and a club release said it “went optimally.”
The injury will see Neuer miss at least the Augsburg match plus the midweek visit to Hoffenheim. That leaves the two big matches up in the air, with Bayern set to travel to Westfalenstadion to take on Borussia Dortmund on April 8th, followed closely by the first leg against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals the following Tuesday. There was no mention of either game in the club release.
📰 Read more on the minor foot procedure that will keep @Manuel_Neuer out for #FCBFCA and #TSGFCB: https://t.co/rhVmMBJDeH pic.twitter.com/ynEm3ljQdX
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) March 30, 2017
The last time Neuer missed minutes in a Bundesliga game was a home game against Eintract Frankfurt on April 11, 2015. The last time the 31-year-old missed more than three league games in a season was 2008/09 when he played for Schalke and missed the first six games of the year with a broken foot.
With the club 13 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table, the injury is likely to have little effect on the final league standings, but should Neuer end up out for either the Dortmund game or, more importantly, the match against Real Madrid, it could affect the club’s position in the Champions League.