Lucas Hernandez and Ivan Perisic cleared to play against Tottenham Hotspur

Ahead of Tuesday’s big Champions League group stage game against Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich have some good news to share — Ivan Perisic and Lucas Hernandez have both been declared fit and been given the all-clear to travel with the team to London.

Perisic, who arrived on loan from Inter Milan this summer, has proven himself a capable player easily able to hold his own with the younger and faster wingers on the squad. He missed the game against Paderborn on Saturday with an illness, and his quick recovery will be a boost to the coach. While Perisic is unlikely to start against Spurs, having him on the squad gives Kovac a quality plan B option in case anything happens to Kingsley Coman or Serge Gnabry — something Bayern lacked last season.

Lucas Hernandez, meanwhile, started against Paderborn, but was subbed off at halftime due to complaints with his knee. Given that the Frenchman missed the second half of last season recovering from a surgery on the aforementioned knee, the news that he’s fine will come as a relief to fans and the coaching staff alike. Still, if David Alaba has indeed regained fitness, then Niko Kovac might find it prudent to rest Hernandez against Spurs.

If Hernandez and Alaba are both unable to play, then that will leave Kovac with a selection headache — does he start Alphonso Davies in a big Champions League game? The Canadian performed admirably against Spurs in the Audi Cup, but ... well that was the Audi Cup. Playing him in a real game is a tough sell at the moment.

As for the rest — Leon Goretzka and Fiete Arp will certainly miss the Spurs game — their recovery timetables mean they won’t be back before the international break.