Injuries threaten to derail Bayern's home final dreams, Inter's treble bid bumps up

Bayern Munich's hopes of reaching the Champions League final, to be held at their Allianz Arena home, have been rocked by a devastating injury crisis.

Bayern face Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday missing several first team players, many to long term injuries.

The crisis has left Bayern reeling, as they look to avenge the ghosts of the 2012 Champions League final, also in Munich, when they lost to Chelsea on penalties.

On Friday, midfield creator Jamal Musiala was the latest to join Bayern's crowded casualty ward, with a torn hamstring, which will likely keep him out until mid-May.

Bayern's defence is particularly hard hit.

Defenders Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano and Hiroki Ito look set to miss the remainder of the season with injuries.

Goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer, winger Kingsley Coman and midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic are doubts for the Inter match.

Bayern will need to keep tabs on dangerous Inter forwards Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez and have only two centre-backs available: Kim Min-Jae, who has been nursing an Achilles injury, and English veteran Eric Dier.

'FINALE DAHOAM'

This season's Champions League final in Munich, known as the 'finale dahoam' in the Bavarian dialect, has loomed large for Bayern for years.

Several of Bayern's major moves in recent seasons, from the surprise replacement of Julian Nagelsmann with Thomas Tuchel, to breaking the bank to sign Harry Kane, have been driven by the desire to win in Munich this May.

The six-time winners were, however, forced to adjust their expectations after a disappointing 2023-24 season, when Bayer Leverkusen won a league and cup double, leaving Bayern with their first trophyless campaign in 11 years.

Vincent Kompany replaced Tuchel as coach.

Club powerbroker Uli Hoeness, still the most influential person at the German giants, despite stepping down as President in 2019, told Kicker in February the focus for this season was winning the Bundesliga rather than Europe.

"After the difficult 2023/24 season, there's too much talk about the Champions League. The German championship would mean a lot to me," Hoeness said.

But with Bayern six points clear of Leverkusen with six games remaining, thoughts have returned to Europe.

Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who on Saturday announced he was leaving the club at season's end despite wanting to stay, said he was focused on reaching the "finale dahoam" in his last weeks at the club.

In the midst of another stellar season, Kane has also made clear his designs on the biggest team trophy of all.

For a player who has been hit by injury ahead of some of the biggest moments of his career, Kane comes into Tuesday's game fit and in fine form, particularly in Europe.

Kane was Bayern's best player in their last-16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen, scoring three goals and laying on an assist while constantly menacing defenders with his physicality.

Only Barcelona's Raphinha, with 11, has more than Kane's 10 goals in the Champions League this season.

Speaking after scoring in Bayern's 3-1 win at Augsburg on Friday, Kane said Bayern's injury woes could galvanise the side and that Kompany had anticipated such a crisis.

"From the first day the manager came in, he spoke about needing the squad and using everyone.

"We have a really big week coming up, so rotation will be key.

"Some players will have to play every minute, some players will have to make an impact off the bench, and we just have to keep focused on what we can do.

"We're in a good place, we have good momentum, and we need to take that into the game on Tuesday."

Kane said the Italian champions would be "tough", but said Bayern's win over defending champions Leverkusen in the previous round was "a big statement. It shows with the right mentality, the right focus, we can hurt any team – and Inter are no different.

"We have to be focused and use the energy in the home leg to our advantage."

INTER'S BOLD TREBLE BID BUMPS UP AGAINST PAST GLORY

Inter Milan are on an unlikely mission to repeat the treble as the Serie A champions travel to take on Bayern Munich, the team they beat to complete a historic Champions League triumph under Jose Mourinho 15 years ago.

League leaders in Italy and also contesting the Italian Cup semifinals with AC Milan, Inter have made no secret of their ambitions to emulate their best ever season of 2009/10, when a star-studded team beat Bayern in Madrid thanks to a Diego Milito brace after already securing the two domestic honours.

Another Argentina striker in Lautaro Martinez has been the most bullish about Inter's chances, the captain saying that he believes the Italians can pull off what would be a near miracle ahead of the first leg of their quarterfinal with Bayern on Tuesday.

"It's almost like we don't want to say it but yes," Martinez said last month after a statement win at Atalanta.

"It will be difficult but we'll go for it because we want to win every match we play."

Inter are the most recent Italian team to win the Champions League and were unfortunate to lose the 2023 final to Manchester City, but there is no denying that Serie A has lost the lustre of yesteryear in the continent's elite club competition.

The clashes with Bayern are the key fixtures in Inter's packed April after a relatively straightforward run to the quarters in which coach Simone Inzaghi often rotated his line-ups, with the Serie A title defence his priority in the early months of the season.

Inter have only conceded twice in the Champions League and have the best defensive record in the competition this season with two goals, but have been far more fallible at the back than last term.

SHAKY INTER

One of those two goals conceded came in Inter's only defeat on their way to a top-eight finish in the league phase, 1-0 at Bayern's league title rivals Bayer Leverkusen.

An inability to close out matches has characterised a large number of Inter's performances this term, and their Serie A tally of 30 goals conceded is already eight more than in their charge to last year's Scudetto.

Inter threw away a two-goal lead to draw at lowly Parma on Saturday, and the week before came very close to doing the same thing against Udinese at the San Siro.

Their lead at the top of Serie A could be cut to one point on Monday night after arriving in Germany, with closest Scudetto challengers Napoli at in-form Bologna.

Assistant coach Massimiliano Farris said after Saturday's draw that Inter "couldn't find the mental or physical energy to contain" Parma after going two ahead, a worrying statement before a trip to face Harry Kane and company.

Luckily for Inter, Italy defender Alessandro Bastoni looks likely to be fit after being seen with an ice pack on his left knee at Parma, but the continued absence of Denzel Dumfries at right wing-back is a problem with Bayern's power on the flanks.

Inter's chances are helped by a Bayern injury crisis which has come just as Vincent Kompany's team close in on reclaiming the Bundesliga, with an eye on the Champions League final at their Allianz Arena.

Germany star Jamal Musiala is the latest Bayern player to be ruled out of the tie with a hamstring tear which looks to have ended his season.

Musiala joins defenders Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano and Hiroki in likely being on the sidelines until the end of the current campaign, while goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer, winger Kingsley Coman and midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic have unclear timelines for their returns from injury.