Bundesliga Manuel Neuer
The big comeback is imminent
As of: 5:06 p.m. | Reading time: 5 minutes
After around 11 months, Manuel Neuer is due to return to the pitch this weekend
Source: dpa/Lennart Preiss
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Manuel Neuer returns to the FC Bayern goal and replaces the strong Sven Ulreich. Whether the decision is correct will only become clear with some delay. The first real endurance test follows two smaller opponents.
Before opening the buffet, the boss talked about ear pain. Jan-Christian Dreesen took the microphone shortly before midnight on Tuesday in the ballroom of the Hotel Raffles in Istanbul and said that he had just read that his FC Bayern’s 3-1 (1-1) win at Galatasaray Istanbul in the Champions League that evening 132 decibels were measured in the stadium. “It felt like I was in a jet plane,” said the CEO of the German soccer record champions with a smile: “It wasn’t just Harry Kane who had to find his hearing again.”
In his speech at the club’s banquet in front of the team and guests of honor, Dreesen then jokingly addressed coach Thomas Tuchel. “I am sure that the coach’s creativity will bear fruit again,” said Dreesen, looking ahead to the coming weeks. Tuchel sat at a table in front of him. Dreesen added that he was very confident after this game and praised the team.
The creativity saying was an allusion to the discussions that have been going on for weeks about FC Bayern’s squad planning. Tuchel considers the squad to be too thin in some places, but at the club they sometimes see things differently. Dreesen decided weeks ago that the coach had to solve this. Bayern are currently missing several injured players, including Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry. Nevertheless, they are building on their records: Munich have now been undefeated in 37 group games in the premier class and have won their last 16 games. With three wins from three games they lead Group A of the Champions League, it was a landmark win. In the first half they allowed their opponents many chances and in the second half they improved. Kingsley Coman (8th minute), Kane (73rd) and Jamal Musiala (79th) scored for Bayern, Mauro Icardi (30th/foul penalty) for Galatasaray.
Good performance: In the 3-1 win in Istanbul, Sven Ulreich kept Bayern in the game in the first half
Source: picture alliance / kolbert-press
Saturday (3:30 p.m., Sky) the Munich team will host SV Darmstadt in the Bundesliga. In all likelihood, Manuel Neuer will play in the game for the first time in almost a year. The national goalkeeper will then be captain again. As such, Joshua Kimmich represented the 37-year-old in Istanbul. “First and foremost, I’m happy for him personally,” said midfield boss Kimmich about Neuer: “I think only he knows what a hard path he has taken.”
There is a long road ahead for Neuer
Behind Neuer there are months full of ups and downs with rehab training and setbacks. “We all saw how he worked every day, how he kept to himself. Accordingly, I wish him with all my heart that he comes back. “I’m extremely happy for the club, for us as a team, but first and foremost for him personally,” said Kimmich. Neuer last played for Bayern on November 12, 2022 in a 2-0 away win against FC Schalke 04 and for the national team in Germany’s embarrassing 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 private ski tour.
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His representative Sven Ulreich showed several strong saves in the last few games and also prevented his team from falling behind on Tuesday evening in Istanbul. It’s a paradoxical situation: Despite his rescue efforts, the game on the Bosphorus may have been Ulreich’s last for a long time. How bitter is it for him to have to go back to the bench now? “Of course you’re always happy when you play,” said the new replacement, but he also made no secret of his situation: “I know my role at FC Bayern, and Manu has now fought his way back. I’m happy for him because it’s been a long journey for him. If Manu plays at the weekend, he will make a good comeback.” He will “of course” sit on the bench, although as an athlete you always want to play, said Ulreich.
Ulreich’s teammates were full of praise in Istanbul. His contract ends after this season, and his club recently signed another goalkeeper, the Israeli Daniel Peretz. Would 35-year-old Ulreich want to extend his contract? “We’re only in October, that’s a long time away, there’s still a lot of water flowing down the Isar,” he said about his future: “We’ll see what happens. We have one-year contracts. In the next few weeks and months there will definitely be a conversation about what the club is planning, what it looks like for me.” Coach Tuchel said that Ulreich knows his role and doesn’t see him as Neuer’s competitor, the two are friends: “He knows what’s going on the honest support and best wishes from Manu. So things will be reversed once Manu returns.”
Top game against Dortmund awaits
Now the focus is on Neuer. And how: We are eagerly awaiting how he presents himself after such a long break. The opponent from Darmstadt, who is extremely inferior, at least on paper, could be a good first test run. Neuer’s performance and health also have an impact on the national team. He will no longer be captain there for the time being. The new national coach Julian Nagelsmann has confirmed Ilkay Gündogan as team captain, and the midfield star from FC Barcelona will also wear the captain’s armband at the European Championships. It remains to be seen whether Marc-André ter Stegen from FC Barcelona will be number one at the tournament in Germany next summer. Nagelsmann hasn’t wanted to rule anything out so far.
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The goalkeeper question is tricky. It is Neuer’s dream to play another big tournament. It would be the seventh for the 2014 world champion. Neuer as a substitute goalkeeper at the home European Championship – unimaginable for many. At the beginning of the year, Nagelsmann was involved as Bayern coach in the separation from goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic, which Neuer had criticized. Tapalovic is a close confidante of Neuer. Many people ask themselves: What has been cleared out? What stuck? How well will the two work together?
The strain on Neuer is high: the game against newly promoted Darmstadt is followed next Wednesday by the DFB Cup game against third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken – the following weekend his team will play in the top game of the Bundesliga against Borussia Dortmund. This should be a real endurance test for Neuer. These are special weeks for him. The personnel and their consequences are likely to keep German football busy in the near future.
