Bundesliga FC Bayern
Back in goal – after 331 days, Manuel Neuer will celebrate his comeback
Status: 27.10.2023 | Reading time: 4 minutes
“Ulle has done an outstanding job over the last few weeks”
Manuel Neuer is on the verge of a comeback at FC Bayern. This even pleases representative Sven Ulreich, who received a lot of praise from his teammates for his performance after his last starting eleven against Galatasaray.
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The long-injured Manuel Neuer will guard FC Bayern’s goal on Saturday and make his comeback 331 days after his last competitive game. Coach Thomas Tuchel announced this the day before the Bundesliga game against Darmstadt 98.
Manuel Neuer can look forward to his comeback at FC Bayern Munich after more than ten months of injury. Coach Thomas Tuchel announced on Friday that the 37-year-old captain would be in goal again for Saturday’s Bundesliga home game against SV Darmstadt 98, “if nothing happens in training.” The last time Neuer was on November 12, 2022 was 2: 0 away against FC Schalke in the Munich goal.
“I can feel his anticipation and feel his class. He has a lot of experience, he’s enjoying it right now,” Tuchel continued and added: “There will definitely be a certain amount of nervousness, a tingling feeling. I’m sure he’ll get into the rhythm very quickly.”
The 2014 world champion played his last game ever in Germany’s early World Cup exit in Qatar on December 1, 2022 against Costa Rica. After the tournament, he broke his tibia and fibula on his right lower leg during a ski tour. Since then he has been working on his comeback.
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is making his comeback to FC Bayern after several weeks of team training
Source: dpa/Lennart Preiss
Tuchel had already refrained from making Neuer’s comeback a week ago against FSV Mainz and then in the Champions League group game at Galatasaray Istanbul. “Now we all have to slow ourselves down,” the Munich coach said about the captain. He paid him “the greatest respect” for the “extraordinary performance” of the comeback.
Tuchel sees Neuer back in the national team
“I am 100 percent convinced that he will return to his highest level,” predicted Tuchel and justified the temporary waiver: “My gut feeling matched his that we said 51 percent that we would give him a little more time. “ Tuchel wanted Neuer to be able to work things out with the people in front of him before things got serious again.
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Neuer’s return plan did not work out as the goalkeeper had hoped. In the meantime, the goal was to start this season, but that didn’t happen. At the end of August, Neuer completed a session with his goalkeeper colleagues for the first time. Afterwards he had to slow down again at times due to calf problems.
In a club interview published on Friday evening, Neuer spoke about “a few setbacks” on the way back. These would have to be planned for “in the event of a major and long injury,” he said. “Still, as a patient or as an athlete you don’t want to admit it and you always try to be stronger than nature.”
Tuchel even spoke of satisfaction: “I think that ‘I’ll show everyone again’ plays a role in him, in his competitive spirit and his mentality.” Tuchel wishes the 2014 world champion that he sees the comeback as a “gift” for the hard work since the momentous ski trip on December 9th, 2022. “When the accident happened, after a while he became very aware of how close it actually was.”
Tuchel has no doubts about a successful comeback. The coach sounded euphoric: “What I notice in training is a completely new level of goalkeeping. Manu makes every defender stronger, every goalkeeper colleague. This is in a league of its own.”
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This season he was replaced in goal by Sven Ulreich, who is now acting as a substitute keeper again. Yann Sommer, who was signed as a representative last winter, left Munich for Inter Milan in the summer.
The new national coach Julian Nagelsmann left it open when he took office as to whether former DFB captain Neuer would return to the national team after his long injury break. He wanted to give the FC Bayern goalkeeper the time he needed to get healthy and regain 100 percent performance. “If the situation arises, we will evaluate it,” said Nagelsmann. The next international matches are scheduled for mid-November.
Tuchel, on the other hand, leaves little doubt about this. When asked whether Neuer would be number one in the national team again, he replied: “If Manu stays injury-free from now on until the European Championships and takes the life experience he has now with him, we will not ask ourselves the question in May. That’s my prediction.”
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