Thankfully it was only a tweak and not yet another setback for Neuer, as injuries have plagued him this season.
It’s been one step forward and several steps backwards on more than one occasion for Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer as far as injuries are concerned. Prior to the 2-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Allianz Arena over the weekend, Neuer had been out of action since the beginning of March with a muscular problem in his calf.
Per information from kicker (as per @iMiaSanMia), Neuer was experiencing slight problems in his non-affected (left) calf during the win over Gladbach, which is possibly due to compensation from the past couple of months in his rehabilitation program since it was his right calf that was injured. Despite the discomfort that the keeper felt during the winning effort, he is fully expected to be available for the final match of the Bundesliga season at TSG Hoffenheim this weekend. Assuming he is deemed fully fit enough for selection, he will start and once against wear the captain’s armband, as he had done in the Gladbach win.
Photo by Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images
Even before the most recent injury problem, Neuer had suffered a rib fracture from the collision that resulted in his red card against Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal back in December and he also had a slight thigh problem towards the beginning phases of the season. To say the very least, it’s been a tough season for Neuer, which is part of the reason the club moved in the January transfer window to sign Jonas Urbig from FC Köln. The youngster stood firm in Neuer’s absence, along with Sven Ulreich being unavailable for personal reasons and Daniel Peretz having injury problems of his own.
Ironically enough, the calf injury was sustained during a goal celebration during a Champions League match against Leverkusen in the round of 16, so Neuer has since admitted that he is far more cautious with the number of sprints he makes. He does not want to wind up aggravating his injury, or even worse, wind up getting another muscular injury as the season concludes and Bayern begin preparations for this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
