High-flying Bayern face injury woes as crucial phase looms

Bayern Munich’s home clash with Augsburg on Friday kickstarts a crucial run of fixtures for the German giants, who are struggling under the weight of injuries in key positions.

After Friday’s match, Bayern host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, before a trip to Borussia Dortmund and a German Cup clash with Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayern can go eight points clear with a win against Bavarian neighbours Augsburg, who are yet to win away this season.

But Bayern will need to do so missing several players along with major question marks in key positions.

The club announced this week that Joao Palhinha had joined fellow defensive midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic on the club’s long-term injury list.

Palhinha arrived in the summer from Premier League side Fulham, having been specifically signed to address a weakness in the position.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany looks set to go with the out-of-form Leon Goretzka, who has only started once this season, putting him alongside Joshua Kimmich.

On Thursday, Kompany revealed captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was in doubt “with a rib issue”.

“It’s still a bit early,” Kompany said of Neuer’s chances. “We hope he can still start tomorrow. We have to wait and see how it goes in training.”

With long-term back-up Sven Ulreich missing “for personal reasons”, third-choice goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, fresh off two clean sheets for Israel, could be handed his first Bundesliga start.

“We assume that ‘Manu’ will be able to be there. If that’s not the case, Daniel Peretz will play tomorrow. We have no doubts about him — he’s been very good with the national team.”

Teenage striker Mathys Tel will also miss Friday’s clash with an injury picked up on international duty, putting more weight on the