Bayern captain Lahm laid off for three months
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
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FC Bayern München captain Philipp Lahm fractured his right ankle in training on Tuesday and, following surgery, is not expected to return to action until mid-February.
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FC Bayern München captain Philipp Lahm has been ruled out for three months after fracturing his right ankle in training on Tuesday.
Lahm, who retired from international football following Germany's FIFA World Cup success last summer, was driven from the training pitch on a golf cart. The 31-year-old defender-cum-holding midfielder will undergo surgery and is not expected to return until mid-February, possibly in time for Bayern's UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
This is the third occasion Lahm has been sidelined for a considerable period. In January 2005 while on loan at VfB Stuttgart he sustained a stress fracture in his right foot. Lahm made his comeback four months later, only to suffer a cruciate ligament injury that kept him out until November of the same year.
Lahm joins David Alaba, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcántara, Javi Martínez, Holger Badstuber and Claudio Pizarro, as well as goalkeepers Pepe Reina and Tom Starke, on Bayern's lengthy injury list. The Bavarian club have won UEFA Champions League Group E with two games to spare and are four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
