Corentin Tolisso will spend several months on the sidelines after tearing his anterior cruciate knee ligament in Bayern Munich's win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Tolisso sidelined for months
The Bundesliga champions also confirmed full-back Rafinha is set to miss "a number of weeks" with ankle ligament damage sustained during a bruising encounter at Allianz Arena.
Rafinha's injury came as the result of a lunging Karim Bellarabi challenge which earned the winger a red card and was branded "sick and stupid" by Bayern president Uli Hoeness.
Unfortunately, we can confirm that @CorentinTolisso has suffered an ACL tear and is set for several months out @R13_official also suffered ankle ligament damage and is out for a number of weeks
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) September 15, 2018
Get well soon, guys! #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/8J6z7QvTXB
World Cup winner Tolisso, who cancelled out Wendell's early opener, went down in the first half and presents the greater concern for Niko Kovac.
The midfielder is set to miss a large chunk of the season, potentially forcing the new Bayern boss to dip into the transfer market in January.