Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayern Munich: Lineups, team news, Sane injury update, and more! (Updated)

It's been less than 24 hours since Bayern Munich last played, but the team must still travel to an undisclosed location in Germany to take on Arminia Bielefeld. The international players have returned to the team, so Hansi Flick has more options to choose from. However, given that a clash with Atletico Madrid looms in midweek, we should expect to see more rotation from the coach for the upcoming game.

Team news

The good news is that Leroy Sané is participating in training. Bayern’s star signing spent the international break recovering from a capsular ligament injury in his knee. He is still not ready to start a game, but Flick assures us that his recovery is progressing well.

So, onto the lineup. We have no idea how much rotation Flick is planning, so let's just assume that Robert Lewandowski will start up top, with Thomas Müller behind him. Serge Gnabry played some hard games for Germany over the break, so expect him to be rested for a winger duo of Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa. Jamal Musiala is another option to start, but it’s more likely that the youngster comes off the bench.

The midfield is yet another mystery. You'd think that Flick would want Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka rested for the game against Atletico, but you never know, given how much these guys like to play. German journalists basically did not ask any questions about the lineup in the press conference, so we don't have any clues from Flick either.

Assuming that rotation is the name of the game, we should see Marc Roca and Javi Martinez start in the middle, just like we did against Düren. Arminina isn't a 5th-tier team, but Bayern’s new-look Spanish duo did a good job on their first start together, and it could give Hansi the confidence to start them in the league as well.

Finally, in defense, expect a four-man defense consisting of Lucas Hernandez at left-back, Jerome Boateng and Niklas Süle at center-back, and Benjamin Pavard at right-back. The Frenchmen were rested by Deschamps in their final international game, so they're shoo-ins to start. Alphonso Davies, who started against Düren, happened to play the full 90, so we expect him to be rested.

Finally, Manuel Neuer will return to the lineup as captain and goalkeeper. With all that out of the way, here’s our prediction for how Bayern will line up tomorrow:

Update

Kimmich will not play tomorrow as his partner Lina is expecting the birth of their second child. Check out the full story here.