Corona forces Bayern Munich to use youngsters before facing Mönchengladbach

With the help of juniors, Bayern Munich, burdened with absences due to the Corona virus, plays its match against Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday at the “Allianz Arena” at the opening of the 18th stage, with the German Football League returning to spinning after the winter break, amid continuing doubts that the meeting will be held.

The Bavarian club suffers from nine absences in its ranks due to their infection with Covid-19, as well as multiple absences with physical injuries, so coach Julian Nagelsmann was forced to summon players under the age of 16 to complete the squad, while leaving the Bayern administration the task of negotiating with the league's administrators in order to postpone the match.

"My job is to prepare as if the match will take place normally," said Nagelsmann, whose team leads the standings by nine points over runners-up Borussia Dortmund.

Until Thursday, Nagelsmann was able to use nine players from his professional squad, including Yozoa Kimmich, who returned after a long absence that has continued since November 6 after suffering from complications from the virus, in addition to the return of Niklas Zule, who suffers from back pain and needs care.

On Thursday, Bayern announced that its Canadian player, Alfonso Davis, had tested positive for the virus, becoming the ninth player from the Bavarian giant to have tested positive for the virus.

The Bavarian club is also missing Leroy Sane and French Daewoo Upamecano, and also lost the services of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and defender Bona Sarr for their participation with the Cameroon and Senegal teams, respectively, in the African Nations Cup, which begins on Sunday.

The 34-year-old will have to rely on players from both youth teams, using two 16-year-olds who were with Germany's under-17 team in Spain: striker Arrejon Ibrahimovic (born 11/12/2005) and midfielder Paul Waner (12/23/). 2005).

And if one of them participates on Friday, he will become the youngest player in Bayern history to participate in a match in the German League, breaking the record of Jamal Musila, who played his first match at the age of 17 years and 115 days.

Speaking about the two players, Nagelsmann said, "They both have talent, Ari is very strong head-on, and Paul is very fast and left-handed. The situation also has a positive side. We encourage young talents."

In goalkeeping, Sven Ulrich will replace captain Manuel Neuer, who is infected with Corona, after the former had previously done well when he replaced the main Germany goalkeeper during the first's long absence in the 2017-2018 season.

Only the offensive line seems almost complete for the German champion, so far, with the presence of Thomas Muller, Poland's Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry and Musila.

Mönchengladbach, in 14th place far from their usual league ambitions this season, are doing well overall against Bayern.

The result of the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw last August, before Monchengladbach inflicted Bayern with a landslide loss in the cup competition in October 5-0.

desire for revenge

Nagelsmann admitted that there is a desire for revenge, and added, "I have a little spirit of revenge, I don't mind having only amateurs on the bench, I want to win this match."

In response to a question about a possible postponement of the match, the former Leipzig coach merely reminded that negotiations with the league's administrators are the responsibility of the club's management.

The 18th stage is witnessing an important match between Bayer Leverkusen IV (28 points) and Union Berlin VII (27 points), in a continuation of the fierce competition for the front positions.

The second Borussia Dortmund (34 points) is looking to tighten the screws on Bayern and try to take advantage of any possible stumbling block for the Bavarian team when they visit Eintracht Frankfurt VI (27 points) on Saturday.

Dortmund, after facing Frankfurt, faces a series of strong matches against direct competitors, Freiburg, Hoffenheim and Leverkusen, respectively.

"It's a great opportunity for us, as we will face direct competitors in the standings. We can consolidate our position and maybe get more points," said Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl.

There are only two points between the third and seventh place in the Bundesliga standings, so the second leg begins with accurate calculations for all the teams aspiring to qualify for the European Champions League.

Freiburg hopes to continue its strong performances, after it finished the first leg in third place with 29 points, when it hosts Armenia Bielefeld on Saturday.

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