RB Salzburg vs Bayern Munich: Lineups, team news, Goretzka out with calf injury, and more! (Updated)

It’s Champions League time, and Bayern Munich face an away game that might as well be a home game. RB Salzburg, the team that caused Liverpool so many problems last year, will hope to repeat the effort by vexing Hansi Flick and his men as much as possible. Hopefully, Bayern are up to the task.

Team news

The big news is that Niklas Sule has covid, and will miss this and the Dortmund game. Bayern’s BFG is in good spirits, however, and should be back good as new after the international break. Meanwhile, the huge uproar surrounding David Alaba shouldn’t affect his participation in the upcoming games — indeed, Hansi Flick will look to leverage the Austrian’s remaining time in Munich as much as possible.

So how about the lineup? Well, Robert Lewandowski was rested against Koln on the weekend, so he should be ready to start up top next to Thomas Muller at the head of the attack. Joining him will likely be Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman on the flanks. Douglas Costa is another option instead of Gnabry if the latter needs rest. Leroy Sane, who was disappointing during his start against Koln, will likely make a substitute appearance.

In midfield, this would be a good opportunity to rest Joshua Kimmich, so Hansi Flick may roll out with a pivot of Corentin Tolisso and Leon Goretzka. Neither player played against Koln on Saturday, so they should be fresh and ready to tackle whatever the Salzburg mid throws at them.

Finally, the defense. With Alphonso Davies still injured, Lucas Hernandez will likely return to the lineup at the left-back position. Starting next to him will be David Alaba at center-back, who is unlikely to be dropped despite Bayern all but announcing that he will leave in the summer. Jerome Boateng (center-back) and Benjamin Pavard (right-back) complete the defense, who will be tasked with defending Manuel Neuer from Salzburg’s prolific attack.

So, without further ado, here’s how we think Bayern Munich will line up tomorrow:

Some points to note:

• Tanguy Nianzou is fit, but Flick says he will be integrated over the international break. He's not in the UCL squad so he couldn't play in the game tomorrow anyway.
• Marc Roca? That player doesn’t exist.
• It’s probably too early for Chris Richards to start against a high level opponent like Salzburg.
• Hansi Flick said that he sees Lucas as more of a center-back than a LB. Maybe we will see the vaunted Lucas-Sule pairing someday.
• If Joshua Kimmich plays instead of being rested, I’ll just assume that he’ll continue playing even after dying of exhaustion on the pitch. Kinda like how the crewmates on Among Us keep doing tasks after they’re murdered.

Update

According to Hansi Flick, Goretzka is out with calf problems.

Bad news about @leongoretzka_! Out for #RBSFCB because of his calf problems. Hansi #Flick confirms to @BILD on departure for Salzburg: “It doesn’t look good for Leon. He’s not with us!”

Guess this means Kimmich will start instead.