BERLIN: Bayern Munich head to Russia for Wednesday\u00a0s Champions League clash against Rostov without goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and with a trio of other stars also out injured.
\nGermany\u00a0s captain is suffering from a calf problem picked up in Saturday\u00a0s 1-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund and missed training on Tuesday, the German champions said.
\nIn Neuer\u00a0s absence Sven Ulreich will deputise in Russia.
\nBayern coach Carlo Ancelotti is also set to again be without Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal, who returned from international duty last week with a leg injury.
\nSpain\u00a0s Javi Martinez and Dutch winger Arjen Robben are also set to miss the match with thigh injuries, while there are murmurs of friction within the star-studded Bayern squad.
\nBayern secured their last-16 place in the Champions League for the ninth consecutive season with a 2-1 win at PSV Eindhoven three weeks ago.
\nBut they need a win at Rostov, northeast of Moscow, to stay in touch with Group D leaders Atletico Madrid, who they host at Allianz Arena on December 6.
\nSecond-placed Bayern lag three points behind Atletico and are struggling for goals.
\nThe Dortmund defeat allowed RB Leipzig to finish the weekend top of the league — the first time since September 2015 that Bayern have not been top in Germany.
\nBayern failed to convert any of their 18 shots on goal and forward Thomas Mueller is still waiting for his first league goal of the season.
\n“Obviously you can\u00a0t be happy when you lose top spot and drop points,” said captain Philipp Lahm. “Now it\u00a0s back to the Champions League and after that we face Leverkusen (at home on Saturday). There are interesting weeks ahead.”
\nWhen Xabi Alonso hit the crossbar with an hour gone and his side 1-0 down in Dortmund, it was the 10th time Munich have hit the woodwork in the league this season.
\nTheir strike rate is better in the Champions League, where Robert Lewandowski has four goals in as many games, while Mueller has netted twice in Europe.
\nBayern routed Rostov 5-0 in mid-September but they have taken flak in the German media for the Dortmund defeat.
\nEx-Germany captain Lothar Matthaeus says Bayern are missing the “fitness, joy and authority” in their play.
\nAnd there was a hint of discord when Neuer criticised his team-mates after only he, Mueller, Mats Hummels and David Alaba went to applaud the 8,000 Bayern fans who travelled 600 km to Dortmund to support their team.
\n“Of course, more of our players have to go to the terraces,” Neuer told Munich newspaper TZ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BERLIN: Bayern Munich head to Russia for Wednesday\u00a0s Champions League clash against Rostov without goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and with a trio of other stars also out injured. Germany\u00a0s captain is suffering from a calf problem picked up in Saturday\u00a0s 1-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund and missed training on Tuesday, the German champions said. In Neuer\u00a0s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n