Santa Cruz suffers new injury

FC Bayern München will be without Roque Santa Cruz for three weeks after he sustained his third knee injury of the season in training on Wednesday.

Fears allayed
While not as serious as first feared, the 21-year-old Paraguayan striker will be put in splints for the next ten days having picked up the injury in a collision with a team-mate. There were fears that it could be a recurrence of the knee ligament trouble that forced Santa Cruz to miss much of the first half of Bayern's season, but a examination by team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt revealed a ruptured ligament and not a tear as was first thought.

Injury worries
However, the news comes as a further blow to Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who has injury problems surrounding a number of key players. Hasan Salihamidzic, Michael Ballack and Alexander Zickler are all long-term absentees, while Mehmet Scholl, Sebastian Deisler and Jens Jeremies have only recently returned to light training.

Pressure on Pizarro
Zé Roberto and Owen Hargreaves should be fit for Saturday's visit to Hannover 96, however, while Santa Cruz's place is likely to be taken by Claudio Pizarro, who will fly direct to the game having played for Peru in Chile on Thursday. Leaders Bayern are closing in on the 1. Bundesliga title, having opened up a 15-point advantage at the top of the table.