Neuer nears comeback - Urbig's good impression
Change in Bayern goal is imminent
Jonas Urbig is likely to slide back to the bench this weekend. Manuel Neuer is slowly making his comeback.
Will probably alternate again this weekend: Jonas Urbig and Manuel Neuer picture alliance/dpa
Fortunately, Manuel Neuer doesn't think it's that easy to run with a wheat beer in his hand, so the goalkeeper should stay flexible this weekend if his FC Bayern takes the final step in Leipzig and becomes German champions for the 34th time in the Red Bull Arena.
Celebrating has become a bit of a problem for the 39-year-old goalkeeper, who has been out for the record champions for a full eight weeks due to a torn calf muscle . He sustained the injury against Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 – while celebrating.
A long break wasn't actually planned after that, but at the end of March, Neuer suffered a setback in training and was subsequently sidelined for over a month. He has since missed a total of ten competitive matches, including the quarter-final match against Inter Milan.
Now the veteran is close to returning, having already been back in full training for most of the team. If everything goes according to plan by Saturday, he should be back between the sticks in Leipzig, replacing substitute Jonas Urbig .
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The winter signing from 1. FC Köln had to accept a club record in Neuer's absence, as he did not keep a clean sheet in each of his first five Bundesliga appearances, but overall Urbig made a good impression.
The 21-year-old was thrown in at the deep end on the Champions League stage, particularly impressing in the return leg against Leverkusen with his boldness and confident saves. His mistake in the 1-1 league match against Berlin cost Bayern two points, but Urbig appeared relatively unfazed by his first setback as a Bayern player.
The young goalkeeper is already impressive on the line, but his good build-up play also stood out in his first few months in Munich. He repeatedly sought out incoming Sané or Olise on the wings with long balls, for example, and his passes often found their way to the right spot. However, Urbig still has room for improvement in his penalty area control – as Dortmund's 1-0 lead in Munich demonstrated.
For now, he can and must retreat back to the second row. But Urbig wasn't brought in as an immediate solution, but rather as the (next) possible successor to Neuer —who is now returning.
