How can players returning from injury help Bayern Munich in Ruckrunde? | OneFootball

Whilst there have been no absolutely disastrous injury luck, Bayern have still had it tough at times this season. New signing Hiroki Itō has not kicked a ball so far, whilst Josip Stanišić has also not played a single minute since returning from Bayer Leverkusen.

In midfield, Bayern's two defensive midfielders - Aleksandar Pavlović and João Palhinha have both missed games - even simultaneously for a few games. Right-back Sacha Boey has missed large chunks of the season. Whilst wingers Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry have generally been more available than usual, they both missed the last few weeks of the year.

Per multiple reports in Germany; Neuer, Stanišić, Coman, Palhinha and Gnabry are all set to be available for the restart against Borussia Monchengladbach next month. Unfortunately, there has been nothing to suggest Boey and Itō will be - but this is overall still positive. How can these players help Bayern during the second half of the season?

How can the returning Bayern players contribute in 2025

Although he is not having his best season, Neuer's sweeping is so important to the style of play under Vincent Kompany. Ironically, it was sweeping that lead to his simultaneous red card and injury against Bayer Leverkusen, but there have been many times this season where it has been the usual top drawer quality.

In defence, Stanišić may be needed straight away. Dayot Upamecano is suspended for the game against Gladbach. Whilst Eric Dier may be a fine defender, he clearly lacks the pace to play in a high line. Bayern conceded in stoppage time, just after he came on, from a through ball in the draw at Frankfurt.

Whilst Stanišić is not a crazy athlete, he is certainly more able than Dier in that regard. Albeit in more of a back three, he did often play as a central defender for Leverkusen last season. This game would be perfect for Itō to come in for - but it does not look possible at the moment.

The workload on Kim-Min Jae has been well documented, with the defender himself saying he has been playing through injury. Bayern are going to need these two to be fit in the second half of the season to manage his minutes accordingly, or risk a serious capitulation.

Even at right-back, Stanišić will be useful to come in. With the only other natural right-back, Boey, frequently injured, the availability of the Croatian international will be important to make sure that Konrad Laimer does not get burned out. Ideally, the Frenchman himself can too help with that, but things don't look too good at the moment.

It is a similar story in midfield. Joshua Kimmich has already played 2,638 minutes for club and country this season. He will absolutely need to rest at periods of the season. If Bayern lose him to injury, the whole season is in serious jeopardy. Even failing that, a drop off in form due to fatigue could be similarly fatal.

Therefore, having both Pavlović and Palhinha available at the same time will be key. Should Bayern have healthy leads in games - replacing Kimmich and playing those two together will be huge. It is unrealistic to expect him to be removed from the XI, but having him not playing 90 minutes every game would be ideal.

On the wings, Kompany is going to need to be able to count on Gnabry and Coman. We have seen Olise play a lot of football in recent weeks, with the Frenchman not used to playing two games a week. Fortunately, he does get taken off more than Kimmich, but it is still one to keep an eye on for the aforementioned reason.

Summary: Whilst, other than Neuer - and perhaps Palhinha in certain games - you could argue that these players do not improve the starting XI, it is a squad game, and Bayern will need to count on all of these players at some point. Whilst the DFB Pokal exit was frustrating, it could help Die Roten in the other two competitions.