Update: Bayern Munich says Lucas Hernandez, Tanguy Nianzou are positive for COVID-19; other players need another test

Update: 12:05PM EST

Bayern Munich has released a statement detailing that Lucas Hernandez and Tanguy Nianzou have tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, there seems to be inconclusive results on Leroy Sane, Josip Stanisic, and Dayot Upamecano:

Two other FC Bayern players tested positive for the corona virus and are now in domestic isolation. These are Lucas Hernández (in the Maldives) and Tanguy Nianzou. Both are fine. In Leroy Sane, Josip Stanisic and Dayot Upamecano the diagnosis is not yet complete.

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

Update: 11:45AM EST

We posted the news from this morning regarding the four absences from Bayern Munich’s training, but Bild is reporting that the situation is not good.

This is what the Germany outlet has released:

• Lucas Hernandez has tested positive for COVID-19.
• Leroy Sane’s test was inconclusive. The Germany international will be re-tested tomorrow.
• Three physiotherapists have tested positive for COVID-19.

It’s only been a few days into the new year and Bayern Munich have been hit with some major bad news. On the first day of 2022, there were five new cases in the team (four players and one coach), including captain Manuel Neuer. Now, as the team resumes training after the winter break, four more players are missing.

The absentees are Leroy Sané, Lucas Hernández, Dayot Upamecano and Tanguy Nianzou. At the time of this post, Bayern did not want to comment on whether the quartet’s absence was caused by COVID-19 or not.

Should COVID be the problem, and if those four players are out for at least two weeks, it puts a huge wrench in coach Julian Nagelsmann’s plans. There is ample reason to suspect that Friday’s game against Borussia Mönchengladbach could even be postponed. With the four players already confirmed to have COVID, if the new absentees also have it, then Bayern can barely field a starting eleven, much less fill the bench.

In fact, Bayern currently only have twelve senior players left — Niklas Süle, Benjamin Pavard, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Robert Lewandowski, Marcel Sabitzer, Alphonso Davies, Marc Roca, Thomas Müller, Sven Ulreich, and Jamal Musiala. Bouna Sarr and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting are on international duty. Malik Tillman and Christian Früchtl can also be options, but even then, that’s only fourteen players. The DFL rules state that a club needs at least fifteen registered players to go into a game.

Whether Hernández, Upamecano, Nianzou, and Sané are indeed COVID-stricken, and whether Friday’s game will be rescheduled remains to be seen, but at the time of writing, the situation seems dire. Bayern’s ambitions for the new year have taken a severe hit.