We take a look at the Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid players who have returned from international football injured.
If you were the manager of a professional football team you must dread the international break – especially one in the middle of the season.
However the most recent one was important – with the international break containing the playoff fixtures for the upcoming tournament.
But there was also a number of dead rubbers – some of which contained two teams that have not even qualified for the tournament.
We look through ten of the biggest names injured…
Franck Ribery – Bayern Munich and France
Fractured a rib against Ukraine – definitely misses Bayern’s crunch game with Borussia Dortmund this weekend.
Mats Hummels – Borussia Dortmund and Germany
Broke his foot as a substitute against England on Friday. Manager Jurgen Klopp furious as Bayern players Philip Lahm and Manuel Neuer got the night off while two of his players got injured – leaving him without his four first-choice defenders for upcoming Champions League ties and Bayern fixture.
Marcel Schmelzer – Borussia Dortmund and Germany
The other Dortmund player injured – suffered a calf strain.
Victor Valdes – Barcelona and Spain
Injured in a pointless friendly against South Africa. A ruptured calf muscle sees him out until 2014 and Barca looking at bringing in a goalkeeper, perhaps Pepe Reina in January.
Christian Eriksen – Tottenham Hotspur and Denmark
Playing for Denmark v Norway, he sprained his ankle. Neither team are in the World Cup and the playmaker is now out until the 15th December.
Sami Khedira – Real Madrid and Germany
Perhaps the most serious of all the international injuries.
The giant midfielder tore the anterior and medial cruciate ligaments in his knee – ruling him out for a minimum of six months – although more will not be known until later in the year.
Fabio Coentrao – Real Madrid and Portugal
Real Madrid now have a left-back crisis as a muscular problem rules Coentrao out of their weekend fixture.
Dani Alves – Barcelona and Brazil
The right-back has suffered a back problem against Chile – and is now due to miss the games with Granada and Ajax.
Alvaro Arbeloa – Real Madrid and Spain
The third Real Madrid player on the list. The Spaniard returned with some niggles and may be out of the game against Almeria – leaving Real Madrid bereft of options at left-back.
image: © Кирилл Крыжановский
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