Thiago Alcantara to miss 3-4 weeks with knee injury

Thiago Alcântara, after injuring himself in Spain's friendly against England, will miss the next three to four weeks, Bayern Munich announced on their website Wednesday evening.

.@Thiago6 will be sidelined for between 3 and 4 weeks with a knee injury. Get well soon, #Thiago! pic.twitter.com/cWTJt4YlwE

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) November 17, 2015

Thiago got the start from Spain coach Vicente del Bosque in La Roja's 2-0 victory in Wembley Stadium on Friday, his second consecutive start with the Spain national team. He left after just 26 minutes, coming off limping as Santi Cazorla replaced him in midfield. After he returned to Munich for more tests, Bayern team physician Dr. Volker Braun diagnosed it as a capsule injury in his right knee.

The "three to four week prognosis" from Dr. Braun could mean Thiago will not take the field until 2016 during winter break or the Rückrunde of the Bundesliga. The 24-year-old has injured this knee several times, including a spell on the shelf that lasted five months in the 2014/15 season.

Xabi Alonso, Joshua Kimmich and Arturo Vidal will carry the load in midfield in Thiago's absence. Sebastian Rode, who progressed to ball training at the end of last week, may ease some of the load once he returns from injury.