Kingsley Coman suspension status clarified for Bayern Munich by DFB

Tz has reported that final clarity on Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman’s availability for this Saturday’s DFL-Supercup only arrived recently after the DFB officially commented on the situation. Coman will be able to play, but he’ll miss the next two Bundesliga matches — at Eintracht Frankfurt and against VfL Wolfsburg.

Coman had earned his suspension for a flagrant throw of the arm against VfB Stuttgart center-back Konstantinos Mavropanos on Matchday 33 of last season. Via Tz’s reporting:

The action had consequences, the DFB Sports Court suspended him for three competitive games. Word for word, the May announcement said Coman had been “imposed a ban of three competitive games (championship and/or DFB Cup games).” “In addition, the player is also suspended for all other competitive matches of his club until the suspension expires,” it continued.

It is somewhat surprising that it took a DFB spokesman’s statement to clarify the situation this late, and maybe even more so that the DFL-Supercup didn’t fall under the ‘competitive’ rubric.

Technically, though, the DFL-Supercup is neither a Bundesliga league nor a DFB-Pokal game. It’s an annual match prior to the start of the season held between the most recent winners of those two competitions (or the next-ranked Bundesliga team, if they are the same). It’s sort of a friendly, but sort of not — there’s a trophy involved and only five substitutions allowed, but it practically means little. This year, especially, it’s a crucial tune-up after an abbreviated preseason that featured only two friendlies played in quick succession.

So, the question remains: now that he’s been cleared, will Coman play? It’s a question for Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who clearly rates the winger highly but also has to consider that he’ll need to get his team cohesion and tactics sorted for the first two Bundesliga fixtures. That’s a strong case for keeping Coman on the bench, at least for a half, so that next Saturday’s first-choice group can work themselves into season readiness.

In other news, Bild is reporting (as captured by @iMiaSanMia) that new signing and teenage phenom Mathys Tel won’t be eligible for the DFL-Supercup either due to some inexplicable UEFA red tape, and will now be looked at for the Bundesliga opener instead.

The season hasn’t started yet, but selection headaches are already here.