In the first leg of their last 16 ties against the West Londoners, the German giants were enormously impressive, sweeping them comfortably aside in their own backyard. Bayern Munich will be without star striker Robert Lewandowski for about four weeks after he suffered a knee injury on Tuesday evening during his side’s 3-0 win over Chelsea in the Champions League. The scoring was opened in 51 minutes by former Arsenal player Serge Gnabry and doubled his tally only three minutes later before Lewandowski added a third with 14 minutes left. Bayern, however, has now taken to their official website to confirm that Lewandowski broke the tibia in his left knee joint during Tuesday’s overall win. This was determined by Bayern medic Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, who on Wednesday conducted test upon the return of the team from London. It is also noted that after ten days of ‘ immobilisation in a cast, ‘ the 31-year-old will start rehabilitation. Should his recovery go as planned, the club estimates he will be out for about four weeks.
As a result, Lewandowski will miss Die Roten’s upcoming trip to Hoffenheim, while he will also be unavailable for his side’s clash with Schalke in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. Elsewhere, he will also miss the games against Augsburg (March 8) and Union Berlin (March 14), as well as the second leg of Bayern‘s tie with Chelsea on March 18.
ℹ️@lewy_official has been ruled out for four weeks after suffering a knee injury against @ChelseaFC yesterday. #ComeBackStronger, Lewy! pic.twitter.com/rzRSdUHZKf
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) February 26, 2020
The striker’s loss to injury will be a major blow to Bayern Munich, particularly given the scintillating form he’s been in. The prolific attacker scored a stunning 39 goals in just 35 appearances in all this season’s competitions, with 25 of those strikes coming into the league. His 25 goals in the Bundesliga this campaign means he’s the division’s top goal scorer, averaging one goal every 82 minutes.
Bayern is a world-class outfit and showed that on Tuesday night but it will be difficult for them to replace Lewandowski’s on the sidelines during his spell. The club is locked in a tight battle at the top of the Bundesliga, and while the likes of Gnabry and Thomas Muller have been impressing, Flick will look to them now to pose a greater threat in front of goal. Gnabry could operate more centrally during Lewandowski’s absence as he did for his country while Muller also has the ability to do that. If Flick opts to move either player into the role of the striker, the disappointing Philippe Coutinho could be given more opportunities.