Bayern Munich Defender Josip Stanisic To Miss Weeks With Knee Injury

Bayern Munich defender, Josip Stanisic, is set to miss “several weeks” with a knee injury picked up in training, the club announced Tuesday.

Stanisic “tore the lateral ligament in his right knee” at training on Monday and will undergo an operation, Bayern said in a statement.

He rejoined Bayern this summer following a season-long loan at Bayer Leverkusen, where he achieved a double by winning both the Bundesliga and the German Cup.

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said on the club’s in-house TV channel on Tuesday that Stanisic, who has 20 caps for Croatia, “will be missing for the next few weeks, unfortunately.”

Bayern, who finished trophyless last season for the first time in 11 years, is already light in defense.

New center-back signing Hiroki Ito will be sidelined for the first few weeks of the season due to a foot, while fellow central defender, Matthijs de Ligt was sold to Manchester United earlier in August.

Stanišić is likely to miss two Croatia games in the UEFA Nations League, at Portugal on Sept. 5 and home to Poland three days later.

Bayern also plays the first two rounds of the expanded Champions League opening league phase scheduled from Sept. 17-19 and Oct. 1-2. The draw for each team’s eight games will be made next week in Monaco.

Bayern opens the 2024-25 season on Sunday away at Wolfsburg.