Bayern Munich may have to continue without Canadian star fullback Alphonso Davies for the final five games of its season.
The Bavarian powerhouse stated Sunday that Davies “sustained a muscle bundle injury” in the back of his left thigh during the 3-1 loss at Mainz in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Davies had to come off in the ninth minute.
The 22-year-old from Edmonton pulled up after accelerating past Mainz fullback Silvan Widmer, wasting no time signalling to the Bayern bench that he had a problem.
Bayern did not say how much time Davies will miss. There are just five rounds left in the Bundesliga. Bayern has already been knocked out of the Champions League and German Cup and it lost the Bundesliga lead to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Canada will have its fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
The 47th-ranked Canadian men face No. 58 Panama on June 14 in Las Vegas in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal with the winner facing either the 13th-ranked U.S. or No. 15 Mexico for the title. They then start play in the Gold Cup with a game June 27 at Toronto’s BMO Field against a qualifier before facing Guadeloupe and Cuba in Houston.
Davies has had his share of injury issues lately.
He suffered a hamstring injury in early November ahead of the World Cup but made it back in time to play at the soccer showcase in Qatar. In October, he suffered a cranial bruise in a Bundesliga match after taking an accidental boot to the face from Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham.
The speedy fullback was diagnosed with COVID in December 2021 and did not return until early April last year after developing symptoms of myocarditis, a mild heart condition.
Davies has won 39 caps for Canada with 13 goals and 16 assists.
In December, Davies was named Canada Soccer player of the year for the fourth time in five seasons.
He was instrumental in helping the men’s team qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, and scored the squad’s first-ever goal at soccer’s showcase event in Qatar.
Davies also helped Bayern collect the 2021-22 Bundesliga and 2022 DFL Supercup in Germany and became the all-time Canadian leader in UEFA Champions League appearances.
Davies was the lone Canadian attacker to play every minute at the World Cup and he scored the opening goal 67 seconds into Canada’s match against the eventual bronze medal winner Croatia.
