Report: Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer deciding his own injury return timeline

The clock continues to tick down the days until the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar, which begins November 20th and runs through December 18th of this year. That’s one reason Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is being extra mindful of not rushing his return from a shoulder issue that has kept him out of recent games.

In a report from Bild, per @iMiaSanMia:

Manuel Neuer is thinking about the World Cup and does not want to take any risks with his shoulder injury. Julian Nagelsmann has given Neuer the freedom to decide when he wants to be back whenever he feels 100% fit.

The star keeper — Germany’s undisputed #1 between the sticks for Hansi Flick’s Germany squad — is now 36 and likely heading into the final World Cup of his playing career. He last played for Bayern on October 8th, a 2-2 draw to Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker.

Since then, deputy Sven Ulreich has taken over in goal and has two clean sheets to his name — in twin 5-0 victories in which Ulreich had not all that much to do. On Sunday, Freiburg didn’t even manage a single shot on target!

Now, it looks like Ulreich will get to test out his skills a little while longer. If Neuer stays out, marquee European matchups against FC Barcelona and Inter Milan loom ahead.

Rest up and get well, Manu!

Interested in more Bayern Munich content? Check out our detailed Augsburg preview along with analysis of the win over SC Freiburg and a major question about Robert Lewandowski in the latest episode of our podcast. Listen to it below or on Spotify.

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