Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery out for the rest of the year
October 2, 2017
Bayern Munich's new coach will have to do without Franck Ribery until the end of 2017, after the club confirmed that the knee injury he suffered on Sunday was serious. Ribery will join Manuel Neuer on the sidelines.
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The French winger, a key part of Bayern's squad, was withdrawn by caretaker-coach Willy Sagnol in the second half of Bayern's 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
Ribery, 34, ruptured a ligament in his knee after stepping on the ball with no opponent nearby. He will not need surgery but his knee will be put into a splint for several weeks before a further decision is made on his treatment.
Ribery missed 12 games with injury last season and a large portion of the 2014/15 season with ankle problems.
"We are sorry that Franck has injured himself. We wish him a speedy and good recovery," Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
The news is a blow to a club already reeling from a run of two draws and a loss in their last three games and the departure of coach Carlo Ancelotti.
The Frenchman is the second long-term injured player after keeper Manuel Neuer, who is recovering from a foot fracture and not expected back until January. Bayern are also missing back up leftback Juan Bernat and have concerns over the fitness of midfielder Arturo Vidal.
mp/ (DPA/SID)
Matchday 7 in pictures
Bayern slip up again, Leipzig hold on against Cologne and Freiburg's thrilling win over Hoffenheim. Even before Sunday's excitement, there was late drama in Frankfurt and two stunning goals for Borussia Dortmund.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Stache
Hertha Berlin 2-2 Bayern Munich
New manager, same story. For the second straight week, Bayern Munich blew a 2-0 lead, this time at the hands of Hertha Berlin. Mats Hummels headed in the opening goal after 10 minutes and Robert Lewandowski doubled Bayern's lead shortly after the break. But Ondrej Duda (left) and Salomon Kalou (center) scored two quick goals to level the scoring.
Image: Imago/Voigt/J. Huebner
Cologne 1-2 RB Leipzig
Bottom club Cologne scored their first goal since matchday 2 but their best league performance of the season so far wasn't enough to stop RB Leipzig, who triumphed thanks to goals from Lukas Klostermann and Yussuf Poulsen (pictured). Klostermann beat an otherwise brilliant Timo Horn at his near post in the first half before Poulsen headed home from close range in the second.
Image: Imago/J. Huebner
Freiburg 3-2 Hoffenheim
There was a lunchtime thriller at the Schwarzwalder stadium as Freiburg fought back from a goal down to beat Hoffenheim. There was an early flurry of goals - three in five minutes to be exact - with Hack giving Hoffenheim an early lead before a quickfire Freiburg double put Freiburg in front. The home side added a third through Stenzel and held on despite an injury time own goal from Schuster.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Hangst
Augsburg 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
An outrageous backheel from Andriy Yarmolenko (pictured) set the league leaders on their way early on but the hosts soon levelled through Caiuby's close-range header. Following awful Augsburg defending, Shinji Kagawa netted a sumptuous chip on 23 minutes to rival Yarmolenko's brilliance. The video assistant awarded Dortmund a penalty but Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng botched his chipped spotkick.
Image: Reuters/M. Rehle
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Stuttgart
Sebastien Haller (pictured) produced a stunning bicycle kick deep into stoppage time to hand the hosts the points. Ante Rebic had given Frankfurt the lead after an error by Holger Badstuber but Stuttgart hit back when Simon Terodde headed in a corner shortly after coming on as a substitute. Frankfurt's Simon Falette was then sent off but the video assistant ruled the push was just outside the box.
Image: imago/T. Frey
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 Hannover
Gladbach snatched victory at the death when Thorgan Hazard (pictured) converted a penalty after the referee awarded the stoppage time spotkick in consultation with the video assistant. Salif Sane was adjudged to have fouled Vincenzo Grifo. Matthias Ginter and Martin Harnik traded the other goals in a game delayed 15 minutes because the Hannover team bus was caught in traffic.
Image: imago/S. Wensierski
Hamburg 0-0 Werder Bremen
The Nordderby ended in a goalless draw, which did little to help the two struggling teams in the table. Bremen started the better but Hamburg grew into the game and Gotoku Sakai had arguably the best chance. Another impressive Japanese player, Tatsuya Ito, went off injured on his first Hamburg start.
Image: imago/Ulmer/B. Hake
Wolfsburg 1-1 Mainz
Josuha Guilavogui (pictured) headed in a corner 10 minutes into the second half to boost Wolfsburg but they were pegged back when Yoshinori Muto netted with a superb header of his own from almost on the penalty spot. The draw means Martin Schmidt has three points from his opening three games as Wolfsburg coach.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/S. Franklin
Schalke 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Leon Bailey (pictured) came off the bench to rescue a point for Leverkusen in their draw at Schalke on Friday. The home side had taken a first-half lead through a stunning Leon Goretzka free kick. The result sums up both sides' inconsistent form.