Jamal Musiala has said he will “certainly not” watch any kind of footage on his severe left leg injury but at least he will be spared having to face Gianluigi Donnarumma again when Bayern Munich play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The first leg semi-final comes 297 days after Musiala broke his fibula and dislocated his ankle in the Club World Cup quarter-final against PSG on July 5 in the United States in a collision with keeper Donnarumma.
The Italian has since left for Manchester City while Musiala was sidelined until January and again recently due to a pain reaction in the damaged ankle. Games he missed included Bayern’s league stage win against PSG in autumn.
Getting close to his best again
But he is now nearing top form again after being carefully reintroduced to action by coach Vincent Kompany, which is good news for treble-seeking Bayern and for the German national team as well ahead of the World Cup.
Musiala, 23, had a goal and an assist after coming on in Bayern’s amazing 4-3 Bundesliga win over Mainz from three goals down on Saturday.
“The celebration, the smile – when an attacking player shows that, everything’s released. Then everything’s all right. It’s the first time that Jamal is feeling this freedom again,” Kompany said.
No more fear
Musiala appears to be playing without fear again and has improved physically as well.
“I am doing a lot of extra things to make the foot feel fresh,” he said. “I try not to think about it. I trust my foot more with every game.”
Musiala’s return is also welcome for club and country because Serge Gnabry will miss Bayern’s season run-in as well as the World Cup.
Kompany said that “we enjoy what he is giving us now” and Musiala could be a key figure in the final weeks of the season where Bayern seek a seventh European title and are also in the German Cup final after having already wrapped up another Bundesliga title.
Musiala confident for final weeks
Musiala is confident that Bayern can reach their lofty goals, especially after the fightback in Mainz.
“We could’ve easily lost 3-0 and carried on, but the fact we still have the hunger to turn the game around, to celebrate as if we’d won the title, is a good feeling. We need this feeling for the coming weeks if we want to win more,” he said.
Kompany suspended
Kompany will not be on the sideline on Tuesday due to suspension and his duties carried out by assistant Aaron Danks.
Striker Harry Kane said that “of course we will miss him” while sporting director Christoph Freund added that “we will rise to this challenge and, as a team, we will manage it and get through it.”