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If you missed Saturday's match against Mainz, Bayern put together a very impressive second half to pull out a 4-1 victory. However, there was some bad news before and during the game due to injuries suffered by Franck Ribery and Dante. Luckily for all of us, FC Bayern were quick to update us on the status of the two players.
Ribery suffered an ankle sprain in the final training session before the Mainz match. He was held out of the match, but it was mostly a precautionary measure. "It's nothing serious and I wanted to play, but the doc said it was too much of a risk." Ribery expects to be ready to play against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Dante's injury occurred during the match. In the 40th minute, Dante and Mainz's Zdenek Pospech went into a challenge that left the Brazilian with a laceration on his ankle. Dante was forced out of the match and received stitches at the half from Bayern doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt. The expectation is that Dante will be out for 10-14 days and will definitely be out for the matches against Plzen and next weekend against Hertha Berlin.
If Ribery is forced to miss another match, it won't dramatically impact Bayern on the field. It definitely won't matter if Mario Götze puts on another show like he did against Mainz. Götze was fantastic, and it was fantastic to see him return from injury with such a bang.
However, losing Dante for a few matches could be a bigger issue. With Jerome Boateng suspended for the Plzen match, it's likely that Pep Guardiola will pair Daniel Van Buyten with Jan Kirchhoff in the center of defense. It's going to be interesting to see how the partnership does. Yes, they should be fine. It is "just" Plzen.