Shortly before the World Cup starts in Qatar, FC Bayern achieves its big goal and is again first in the Bundesliga. But there is also bad news for the record champions these days: two big stars are threatened with a long break.
The great hero of the evening wasn't thinking of himself, he was thinking of the tragic hero of the evening. Striker Olivier Giroud had given his French national team a good start to the World Cup, the 36-year-old scoring two goals in the 4-1 win over Australia. They were historic goals, and with 51 goals in the Équipe Tricolore shirt he is now the joint record goalscorer in his country, along with Thierry Henry. But the joy of all that Giroud hidden behind the concern for Lucas Hernandez.
After nine minutes, France looked briefly into the Qatari abyss in which Lionel Messi's Argentine team had fallen the previous afternoon after the sensational 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia. France were behind after nine minutes, Craig Goodwin had scored from a fine play. It was a move that not only shook "Les Bleus" massively, but also sent painful shock waves to Munich, almost 5500 kilometers away. Lucas Hernandez is under contract there.
The 26-year-old slipped away in a duel with Mathew Leckie immediately before the goal was conceded, got stuck in the grass and twisted his knee. Hernandez immediately fell to the ground, screamed, raised his hand - everyone in the stadium must have known something terrible had happened here. The Bayern star was treated for two minutes, but no chance, the game was over for Hernandez. The World Cup was over for Hernandez. The diagnosis is still pending, but the French news agency AFP has already spread the knockout message. Hernandez is said to have torn his anterior cruciate ligament.
"We knew immediately that it was something worse," said France captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris after the Socceroos game. "It's a setback, of course, but we're going to keep going and look forward." The teammates also looked shocked. "We're sad about Lucas, we want to dedicate this win to him," said Giroud after the win against Australia." Brother Theo came on for the injured Bayern defender. And he initiated the sporting turnaround: Rabiot headed in his cross to equalize (27').Giroud makes it 2-1 five minutes later, then superstar Kylian Mbappe (68') and Giroud again (71').They meet against the World Cup curse.For the first time since 2006, a defending champion wins again opening game.
Hernandez's injury shocked the team of star coach Didier Deschamps - after Paul Pogba, Karim Benzema, Christopher Nkunku, N'Golo Kante and Presnel Kimpembe, this is the sixth prominent failure. No other top nation faced such problems. If all worries about the anterior cruciate ligament come true, the flexible defender is threatened with a long break. It would be the fifth in his career. In 2019 he dragged an inner ligament injury from Madrid (Atletico) to Munich. He was out for 178 days. This was followed by a torn medial ligament in the ankle (88 days off), a meniscus tear (63 days off) and finally a muscle bundle tear (47 days off), which he only got over at the end of October, shortly before the World Cup.
In Munich they will hardly be able to believe their bad luck in this black November. With Hernandez, the second star is now threatening to fail for a long time. Just before the start of the World Cup, Sadio Mané was injured in a duel with Werder Bremen. At first things didn't look too bad, but the closer the tournament in Qatar got and the more desperate Senegal feared for their star, the clearer it became that the superstar's cracked fibula head needed surgery. According to media reports, the 30-year-old is threatened with a break of up to three months. He could miss the duels in the round of 16 of the Champions League with Paris St. Germain.
FC Bayern could actually cope with the loss even better than Senegal. He cried for his injured lion. "It's a terrible shame - both for Sadio and for the team. It's a challenge, we miss him," said national coach Aliou Cisse before the World Cup opener against the Netherlands (0-2): "He's our best player, our leaders." Over the years, he had "formed his team around Sadio," Cisse continued. It is "never easy to replace a player like Sadio".
And Munich's worries are not yet over with the personal details of Hernandez and Mané. With Thomas Müller, an ailing player traveled to Qatar, although he should be able to play against Japan (2 p.m. in the live ticker on ntv.de), it remains unclear in what condition he is after a long break. In addition, Leroy Sané, who was in good form recently, signed off with knee problems for the opening game.
At least there is a little good news for the record champions Bayern Munich: "Thank God the operation during the week went well and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all and express my appreciation," said Sadio Mané last weekend .
