Bayern Munich's Thiago Out 'Several Weeks' with Ankle Ligament Tear Injury

Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara is set to miss "several weeks" of action after the club confirmed he has suffered an ankle ligament tear.

In a statement on the club's website, the German champions provided full details of the issue:

"The Spain international tore the lateral collateral ligament and the articular capsule in his right ankle in the DFB-Pokal tie against the Regional League side SV Rodinghausen. That was the diagnosis by the club doctor Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt on Wednesday after returning from Osnabruck."

Thiago was withdrawn from the game with 15 minutes remaining on Tuesday. He's been a regular for Bayern so far this season, starting 12 times in all competitions.

Bayern won the match 2-1, with early goals from Sandro Wagner and Thomas Muller enough to see them to victory.

The issue accrued by their key playmaker put a major blemish on the victory, though.

As relayed by ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko, the player was struggling to walk after suffering the injury: 

Thiago has been plagued with injury issues in the past and will be frustrated by this latest setback at a time when he has been one of Bayern's better performers.

The former Barcelona man has become the heartbeat of the team's midfield since arriving in 2013. Technically he is as good as any player in the Bundesliga, as he's able to take the ball in tight spaces and knit together attacks for Bayern.

With that in mind, his absence will represent a big loss for Bayern. He is often the man team-mates look to in midfield:

Bayern are in a critical spell of the season, as they are seeking to make progress in both the UEFA Champions League and the Bundesliga.

In the former, they're attempting to qualify from a group containing Benfica, Ajax and AEK Athens and have taken seven points from their first three games. 

It also appears as if they will have a serious fight for the Bundesliga title this season, too. Borussia Dortmund lead the way by two points from their rivals; the two teams are scheduled to meet in a key game on November 10.

Given Bayern have only applied a vague timescale to Thiago's recovery, he doesn't appear to be completely ruled out of that fixture. Even so, manager Niko Kovac will take the team into a testing period of the season without their most important midfielder.