Injury update: Neuer to miss RB Leipzig, Javi Martinez a big doubt

It now looks as if Manuel Neuer will miss out on Bayern Munich’s trip to RB Leipzig this weekend and Javi Martinez is also a big doubt. Neuer had initially targeted the Leipzig match as his return date after sustaining his calf injury in Bayern’s 4-1 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf last month, but it looks like he won’t be just quite ready in time. After sustaining bad shin splits and an irritated nerve in his calf in yesterday’s training session, Javi Martinez likely won’t be in the match day squad for Bayern either.

Per FCBayern.com, Niko Kovac confirmed Neuer’s absence from the squad travelling to Leipzig in his press conference previewing the clash. While Kovac will be forced to once again deputize Sven Ulreich in goal, he remained hopeful that Neuer will be good to go for Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend and the DFB-Pokal final at the end of the month:

We hope he can train again next week so he can be available for the last two games.

Speaking on Martinez, Kovac highlighted how important his midfield stalwart has been in recent weeks:

The Spaniard received a kick on his calf on Wednesday and is now sidelined. If he does drop out, we’ll miss him a lot. He has been very important in recent away games where we have to watch teams quickly playing on the break.

In slightly more uplifting injury news for Bayern, James Rodriguez resumed full team training and is in contention to be in the squad against Leipzig. The Colombian is also recovering from a calf problem that he suffered in the 1-1 draw at FC Nürnberg two weeks ago after coming on as a second half substitute. Reassuringly, Kovac said “Without Neuer and Martinez I’d have 18 for players but I can only take 16,” suggesting that he’s more than prepared for Leipzig with the players he has fit and available.

Be sure to keep on the lookout for our “predicted lineups” piece, which should come out at some point on Friday!