Bayern Munich centerback returns from long injury lay-off

Hooray! Medhi Benatia is back in team training. The Moroccan international had resumed physical activities last week and this week has rejoined the rest of his teammates as they get ready for Saturday's match against Darmstadt.

Benatia has been missing for Bayern Munich since early December when he was removed in their 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. It was a pointless match and at the time, the injury didn't seem to be a huge deal as all of Jerome Boateng, Holger Badstuber, and Javi Martinez were healthy. Fast forward to now and they're all very much injured.

While Joshua Kimmich has been a revelation for Bayern Munich these last three weeks, having Benatia back is going to be a massive coup for Bayern Munich with the first leg of a Champions League tie against Juventus and Mario Mandzukic's looming aerial power just eight days away. As the rest of Bayern Munich's emergency defensive corps in David Alaba and Arturo Vidal are unknown quantities after sustaining injuries in Sunday's 3-1 win over Augsuburg (and Serdar Tasci's relative anonymity), how quickly Benatia can get up to full speed is going to be something all Bayern fans should be looking for come Saturday.