CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Why isn’t Kingsley Coman playing for Bayern Munich against Real Madrid in the Champions League?
Matthijs De Ligt is fit to face Los Blancos, but neither Coman nor Raphaël Guerreiro are available for Thomas Tuchel.
Bayern Munich are looking to record a famous victory away to Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, with Borussia Dortmund awaiting the winners in the final. But if the Bundesliga giants are to set up an all-German clash at Wembley on 1 June, they’ll have to do it without one key figure: Kingsley Coman.
What injury does Coman have? Could he be fit for the UCL final?
The French winger will miss the clash in Madrid through injury, with an adductor problem forcing him to miss a sixth successive game. Coman only returned to action following a knee medial ligament tear at the end of March but hasn’t taken to the field since being carried off in the home win over Cologne on 13 April.
On Monday, Bayern reported the 27-year-old had returned to training but had only done some running, which means Wednesday’s game in Spain comes too soon for him.
Coman’s incredible league title record
Coman has endured an injury-hit season in Bavaria, making just 27 appearances in all competitions. Incredibly, this will be the first season since he made his professional for Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 that he won’t pick up a league winner’s medal.
The attacker won two league titles with PSG (although he played just three matches in two seasons as a teenager), before spending a year with Juventus, with whom he won Serie A in 2014/15. He then signed for Bayern, initially on loan, where he won eight consecutive championships up until this season.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen have halted the Bavarians’ domestic dominance in spectacular fashion in 2023/24, which they could end unbeaten.
Coman also scored the winning goal and was named MVP as Bayern won the 2020 Champions League final against former club PSG, which was played behind closed doors in Lisbon due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Why isn’t Raphaël Guerreiro playing against Real Madrid?
Portugal international Raphaël Guerreiro has been fighting all season with Alphonso Davies and Noussair Mazraoui to start at left-back but isn’t available for the second leg against Madrid because of an ankle issue picked up in the weekend defeat to Stuttgart.
Guerreiro started in midfield on Saturday but was forced off after just 17 minutes, with Leon Goretzka replacing him. The 30-year-old hasn’t recovered in time for the Champions League clash, with Mazraoui given the nod ahead of Davies in the starting lineup.
Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt has, however, shaken off a knock in time to play and starts, while fellow defender Dayot Upamecano is fit enough for a place on the bench after a recent fitness issue.