Julian Nagelsmann has relinquished one of his star players for the final rounds of the tournament.
Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala tore his hamstring in the team’s 3-1 victory over Augsburg on April 4th, essentially ending his involvement for the rest of the season. Still, the German has worked vigorously to regain his fitness, publicly declaring his goal to be to have recovered his fitness by the time the FIFA Club World Cup starts in mid-June.
But, in this modern footballing world where tournaments keep being created, the Club World Cup is not the only competition happening in June. The UEFA Nations League semifinals kick off for Germany on June 4th and ends on June 8th, just days before June 15th, the date of Bayern’s first match in the Club World Cup. This brought up a rather difficult conundrum: Would Musiala give up playing in the Nations League to be fully fit for the Club World Cup or would be attempt to win a trophy for his country and risk aggravating his injury?
Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl had previously hinted that discussions were taking place, and it seems that they have been concluded now. According to kicker, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, Musiala will compete with Germany:
Jamal Musiala will not play in the Nations League Final Four. [Germany manager] Julian Nagelsmann accepted Max Eberl’s request not to call Musiala up for the tournament in order to be fully fit for the Club World Cup.
One would imagine Musiala was also consulted on this decision and that it is not solely down to Eberl. Having a fully fit Musiala will be worth gold to a Bayern team looking to win the first ever expanded format of the FIFA Club World Cup.
