Why David Alaba, Philipp Lahm Injuries Will Undermine Bayern's Bundesliga Hopes

Bayern Munich will return to Bundesliga action this Saturday with a match against high-flying Hoffenheim at the Allianz Arena. However, notable first-team players will be watching from the sidelines, with injuries sustained during the international break ruling out several members of Pep Guardiola’s squad.  

The Bavarian giants currently have no less than 11 players on the injury list, but the first and perhaps most important of these stars set to miss out is none other than David Alaba. 

The Austrian prodigy has been confirmed as out of action until the end of January with an "intraarticular ligament crack initiation" in his knee, per Transfermarkt, which will likely lead to utter chaos in the Bayern starting XI for the next month. 

Oddly enough, it has been Alaba rather than Mario Gotze, Arjen Robben or Thomas Muller who has taken to Guardiola’s leadership of the club the most and seen his role within the squad completely transform. 

In typical Guardiola fashion, the left-back has gone from one of the best defenders in world football to something of a hybrid box-to-box midfielder, who enjoys running through the middle of the pitch from deep positions. 

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

In a Bayern side that tends to play their entire game in their opposition’s half, Alaba often offers a key factor to breaking sides down with his direct line to goal. While Gotze and Co. potter around the edge of the box, Alaba drags the ball past defenders and quite often finds himself at the sharp end of any Bavarian attack.

What will trouble Guardiola is that this new type of player he has designed is now completely irreplaceable; Bayern simply don’t have another player who can do what Alaba does so well. 

Although the Austria international doesn’t look to have offered much on paper—with only two goals and two assists this season, according to Transfermarkt—his tireless running and hassling of opposing midfields has been vital in loosening things up and allowing other players to step in and finish the move off.

Either from central midfield, left-back or even from the centre of defense, Alaba’s runs are a key part of Bayern’s style of football and will undoubtedly be missed. 

Of course, the German champions did make contingency plans following Alaba’s injury. Xabi Alonso  remained in his anchor role, young starlet Pierre Hojbjerg came in and saw out the remaining games with captain Philipp Lahm. That was of course until the German found himself injured too. 

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

This now puts Bayern in a particularly delicate situation. Thiago Alcantara is injured, Alaba is injured, Bastian Schweinsteiger is still unfit and Lahm is now also out of action. The midfield is down to its bare bones and there’s no solution in sight. 

Hojbjerg will now almost certainly come into the side and start for the foreseeable future, alongside recent signing Sebastian Rode. Yet, Alonso aside, this midfield has all but a few games worth of experience in running a title-winning side. 

In Lahm, they have lost the experience required to keep a cool head and simply go through the motions of winning one title to the next, as well as the necessary technical and physical attributes to be a player of his quality. 

The former Germany captain is quite simply one of the most intelligent players in world football and can read a match like few others across Europe. If Alaba is Bayern’s physical enforcer, Lahm is the cunning captain pulling the strings for Bayern’s defensive unit.

Rode will come in as a ball-winning midfielder with the talent to play as Bayern’s defensive cover for the duration of the injury, but he doesn’t have the know-how to lead like Lahm has done throughout this season.

Until Schweinsteiger returns, Bayern’s midfield will look lightweight and lacking in experience and quality compared to how they’ve lined up since the start of the season. Teams will pick up on that and hope to exploit it.

Between now and the winter break, Bayern face Hertha Berlin, Augsburg and Mainz in three potentially tricky ties on the road, with a notable home match against Bayer Leverkusen on December 6. 

In light of Guardiola's team’s poor run of form in away matches this season—they only have two wins from five in the Bundesliga—such a midfield may struggle in some of the more heated games, with Augsburg in particular offering an interesting test. 

For now, Bayern will be about damage limitation. From here until the winter break, Guardiola will be set on maintaining his side's lead at the top of the table while ensuring he can still put out a midfield from one week to the next.