Bayern Munich says Canada captain Alphonso Davies will be sidelined “for a lengthy period” after undergoing surgery to repair a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The 24-year-old from Edmonton left Sunday’s 2-1 win over the United States in the CONCACAF Nations League third-place game in the 12th minute favouring his knee. He seemed to fall awkwardly challenging for the ball in the Canadian penalty box at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Davies was scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday.
Bayern did not provide further details on the ligament injury or a specific timeline for Davies’ return other than to say he would be unavailable for “several months.”
Canada is next in action in early June at the Canadian Shield tournament, a four-country competition in Toronto. Davies was not expected to be part of the CONCACAF Gold Cup that follows later in June given Bayern’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.
There was more bad news from Bayern with word that centre-back Dayot Upamecano will be out for “several weeks” with a problem in his left knee following his return from playing both legs of France’s quarterfinal win over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League.
Upamecano was diagnosed with loose bodies in his left knee, which is expected to sideline him for several weeks.
“In international breaks there is unfortunately always a danger that players come back injured, and this time it has hit us especially hard,” Bayern’s board member for sport Max Eberl said Wednesday. “The absences of Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano weigh heavily on FC Bayern.
“Phonzy will get all the support he needs on his road to recovery. We’ll also be keeping a close eye on Upa in the coming weeks and expect him to be available again soon. We have a strong squad and will compensate for these absences. We’ll now grow even closer together. The quality is there to continue pursuing our big goals.”
Canada coach Jesse Marsch said Monday that the Bayern Munich star fullback was feeling “a little bit spooked because it was his knee and it moved in a certain way” when he went down.
Marsch said Davies had been “nursing a little bit of an injury’ and had undergone a fitness test before the match.
Marsch also said if Richie Laryea had been available — a hamstring injury has sidelined the Toronto FC fullback/wingback — he probably would have started Laryea at left-back.
Davies was making his 58th appearance for Canada.
The injuries could mean Bayern relies more on central defender Kim Min-Jae, who returned to training Monday after an Achilles tendon injury forced him to miss international games for South Korea. It could also mean more game time for Bayern’s fringe players like centre-back Eric Dier, left-back Raphael Guerreiro and versatile defender Hiroki Ito.
Bayern next plays St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on Saturday and faces Inter Milan in the quarterfinals of the Champions League next month.
