Bayern Munich have been boosted with the news that Kingsley Coman’s injury is not as serious as first feared and is likely to return after the winter break.
The 23-year-old slipped on the pitch and landed awkwardly during the first half of Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Tottenham at Allianz Arena.
The winger, who had opened the scoring just minutes earlier, had to be helped from the field and down the tunnel for treatment, amid fears he had suffered a serious knee injury.
Initial assessment revealed that Coman had suffered a “capsule tear in the left knee”, as well as pulling his biceps tendon and jarring the knee joint.
Coman has had persistent injury issues through his career since joining Bayern from Juve in 2015, missing 31 games in 2018 because of two separate ligament issues in his ankle.
However, further investigation has since revealed no serious damage on this occasion and Coman will return to the side in a matter of weeks rather than months.
"Of course we were all scared at first. But Kingsley has been very fortunate,” Bayern doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt told the club’s website.
“The investigations have shown that he will miss only three games and return for the team’s preparations in Doha.”
It means Coman will miss matches against Werder Bremen, Freiburg and Wolfsburg in the next fortnight before the German winter break.
However, he should be able to resume training in time for Bayern’s winter training camp in Doha at the start of next month.
He could then be in line to return to action against Hertha Berlin when the Bundesliga resumes on January 19.
Tottenham winger Ryan Sessegnon marked his first start for the club with an equaliser four minutes after Cohan’s opener on Wednesday.
Thomas Muller, who came on for the injured Coman, restored Bayern’s lead right on half-time before Philippe Coutinho sealed the win with a long-range strike midway through the second half.
Bayern had already secured their place in the knockout stages as Group B winners but this latest victory ensured they ended the group with six wins from six, with Spurs going through as runners-up.
The draw for the round of 16 takes place on Monday, with Bayern guaranteed to play one of Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Chelsea, Lyon, Napoli or Real Madrid.
