Matthijs de Ligt was sent for an MRI scan at half-time

Saturday afternoon saw Bayern Munich unceremoniously hit Bochum for seven as Die Rekordmeister reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga. Bayern’s third goal would come courtesy of Matthijs de Ligt, who headed home to all but seal the three points for Thomas Tuchel’s side on the half hour mark.

Nevertheless, as the two teams appeared once again after the interval, Dayot Upamecano stood on the sideline ready to replace the goalscoring Dutch defender. However, it is now known that this was not a tactical decision from Tuchel, but instead an enforced substitution with de Ligt suffering a knee injury.

After the game, the Bayern head coach would reveal that de Ligt got “hit on the knee” and that it was “being investigated’ at the Säbener Straße. According to Bild, the centre-half was taken straight to Bayern’s training ground at half-time where an MRI examination took place. 

There is hope within the Bayern camp that the injury is not as serious as first feared, but the test will offer more precise information. If de Ligt is ruled out for an extended period of time, Tuchel will only have Kim Min-jae, Upamecano and the inexperienced – but highly thought after – Tarek Buchmann to rely upon.

GGFN | Will Shopland