BERLIN: Bayern Munich’s understaffed defense has been dealt another setback, with the club confirming on Thursday center-back Matthijs de Ligt will be missing “for the time being” with a knee injury.
The club did not specify how long de Ligt would spend on the sidelines, saying he was “out for the time being” and “will be missing from FC Bayern in the next games.”
Bayern travel to rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
The Netherlands central defender injured his right knee as Bayern were eliminated 2-1 to third-division Saarbruecken in the German Cup on Wednesday night.
De Ligt, who has just returned from an injury to the same knee, grabbed his leg and signalled immediately to the bench 19 minutes into the match, before being subbed out.
Midfielder Joshua Kimmich moved to center-back, with Bayern having only one fit central defender in the squad.
Bayern’s French center-back Dayot Upamecano has missed the club’s last four matches with a hamstring injury.
Manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed after the match de Ligt’s injury was to the “same knee” and “was extremely painful.”
Bayern took the lead through Thomas Mueller after just 16 minutes, but their third division opponents equalized in first-half injury time.
With the scores locked at 1-1 and the game looking set to go to extra time, Saarbruecken’s Marcel Gaus scored in the sixth minute of injury time to win.
The loss means 20-time German Cup winners Bayern have been eliminated in the second round in three of the past four years.
Bayern sit second on the Bundesliga, two points ahead of Dortmund, and have not lost a clash between the two sides since 2018.
Bayern defender De Ligt sidelined with knee injury
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Bayern defender De Ligt sidelined with knee injury
- The club did not specify how long de Ligt would spend on the sidelines
- De Ligt, who has just returned from an injury to the same knee, grabbed his leg and signalled immediately to the bench
Pakistan opt to bat first against England at T20 World Cup
- “It looks like a good pitch. We want to put up an above-par score and defend that,” Ali Agha said
- England have a lot of knowledge about the conditions in Pallekele
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Pakistan won the toss against England and elected to bat first in the Twenty20 World Cup Super Eights game on Tuesday.
“It looks like a good pitch. We want to put up an above-par score and defend that,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said.
England started the second round with a resounding 51-run win over co-host Sri Lanka at the same venue last Sunday while Pakistan’s opening game against New Zealand was washed out in Colombo.
England have a lot of knowledge about the conditions in Pallekele, where they have won all four T20s over the last few weeks, including a 3-0 series win against Sri Lanka before the tournament.
Pakistan batters have been struggling in the tournament and, except for opener Sahibzada Farhan, the World Cup leading run-scorer with 220, no one else has scored more than 100 runs.
Pakistan left out allrounder Faheem Ashraf and brought back fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi while mystery spinner Usman Tariq was preferred over leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed.
England captain Harry Brook hoped the “fresh pitch” would play better for chasing.
England named the same XI for the fifth match in a row in the tournament, staying faithful to struggling opener Jos Buttler.
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Lineups:
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq.
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (captain), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
