Manuel Neuer’s serious injury is “the worst thing that could have happened to Bayern Munich,” says Lothar Matthäus. The record national player accuses the goalkeeper of “negligence”. Neuer was “not to be replaced by anyone”.
Record international player Lothar Matthäus has criticized soccer goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s fateful ski tour. “I can understand that a player wants to clear his head, seek distraction and just have fun. But skiing on more remote ski slopes that are not so safe because the risk can be calculated less is negligent,” wrote the former Bayern Munich professional in his Sky column.
He didn’t want to “criticize too much” the goalkeeper of the national team and FC Bayern,” added Matthäus, “but it was similar to driving a car with summer tires in the dead of winter.” He himself is “a big ski fan” and knows “that it can be great fun in deep snow and you can also hurt yourself on all slopes,” wrote the 61-year-old: “But that didn’t really have to be.”
Neuer broke his lower leg while ski touring on vacation after the World Cup preliminary round, he says he will be out until the end of the season. “That’s basically the worst thing that could have happened to the German record champions,” said Matthäus: “No one can replace Manuel Neuer.”
It is not yet known how FC Bayern will react to the injury of their captain. It seems unlikely to go into the decisive weeks and months of the season alone with Neuer representative Sven Ulreich and an inexperienced goalkeeper from your own offspring. There is speculation about the commitment of Gladbach’s top keeper Yann Sommer, Croatia’s World Cup hero Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb) or old star Keylor Navas, currently number two at Paris St. Germain.
In addition, there is an early return of Alexander Nübel, who was brought in as a new successor but never arrived in Munich in the first two years of the contract. In any case, Neuer’s failure for the ambitious record champions, for whom the huge hurdle Paris Saint-Germain awaits in the Champions League in February, is a catastrophe.