Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard to serve two match suspension for red card vs. Greuther Fürth

Per Bayern Munich’s official web site, Benjamin Pavard will serve a two-match suspension for the red card he was shown in the 48th minute of the 3-1 win at SpVgg Greuther Fürth. The ultimate decision was made by the DFB Tribunal and Bayern did not appeal the decision, and rather accepted it almost immediately, meaning that it is now legally binding.

The card came as a result of a sliding challenge from behind on Fürth’s Jeremy Dudziak, who was clean in on Manuel Neuer’s goal after a quick succession of passes. Pavard’s intent was to go for the ball, but the angle of his approach combined with the follow through of his trailing leg made it an easy decision for the referee. While Lucas Hernandez was close by in his recovery run, Pavard also appeared to be the last man back in Bayern’s defense, which only made the referee’s decision that much easier.

As it stands, Pavard will now miss Bayern’s next two Bundesliga matches against Eintracht Frankfurt (October 3rd) and Bayer Leverkusen (October 17th). As the ruling only applies to Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal matches, Pavard will be available for selection for this week’s Champions League clash against Dynamo Kyiv, it’s just a matter of whether or not Julian Nagelsmann will choose to start him for that encounter. The obvious solution for this weekend’s clash would be to start Josip Stanisic at right-back, or perhaps even Niklas Sule with Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Hernandez as the center back pairing.

For Pavard, he will have plenty of time to reflect on his mishap at Fürth since the next international break comes in between the Frankfurt and Leverkusen matches. Not being available for Bayern for that extended period of time on the calendar will certainly hurt his fortunes of getting more consistent minutes, which Didier Deschamps will take notice of when it comes time to make his personnel decisions for Les Bleus.