Holger Badstuber was helped onto a stretcher after twisting his knee during Bayern's 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund
Holger Badstuber was helped onto a stretcher after twisting his knee during Bayern's 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund

Serious knee injury sidelines Badstuber

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Munich - FC Bayern Munich have confirmed that Holger Badstuber tore cruciate knee ligaments in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

State of shock

The Germany defender will undergo surgery on Monday and his season could already to be over, given the projected recovery time of five months.

"It is very bitter," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes. "The players were very shocked." Badstuber twisted his knee awkwardly in the 35th minute of a pulsating encounter between two of Germany’s heavyweights and had to be stretchered off as a result.

"He said that he got stuck in the grass," reported Bayern's chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on the Bavarian club's website "and it just snapped immediately." The central defender was carried from the field of play and received treatment in the dressing room where team mate Arjen Robben, who had left his place in the stands, came to console him.

Bad news


A scan on Sunday morning confirmed the worst fears that he had indeed torn cruciate ligaments and he will be operated on this Monday, although it should be a routine operation with Bayern's club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt diagnosing a clean tear.

The 23-year-old had only made his comeback from a muscular injury recently. "He was slowly getting back on his feet," said Heynckes. "This is very bitter for the lad."