Bayern Munich confirm injury blow for Chelsea Champions League clash as statement released

Bayern Munich have confirmed an injury blow on the eve of their Champions League clash against Chelsea on Wednesday night. Enzo Maresca's side will go head-to-head with Vincent Kompany's team at the Allianz Arena in the first league phase match of the competition.

Chelseago into the game having been held to a 2-2 draw with Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. Bayern were in Bundesliga action over the weekend as they claimed a 5-0 victory over Hamburg, but have now been handed an injury blow.

Raphael Guerreiro made an appearance from the bench for Bayern in the win over Hamburg, but was only able to stay on the pitch for 17 minutes before being replaced by Tom Bischof, reports football.london. After the victory, Kompany gave an update about the left-back's fitness.

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"Rapha felt something in his ribs," Kompany told reporters on Saturday. "He went straight for an MRI, and we’ll know later what it is. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious."

A couple of days later, Bayern have confirmed that Guerreiro has not been included in the squad to face Chelsea on Wednesday night due to injury.

"Raphael Guerreiro sidelined with stomach muscle injury," the statement from Bayern read.

"Raphael Guerreiro suffered a slight injury to his stomach muscles in Bayern’s Bundesliga game against Hamburg, as confirmed by the club’s medical department. As a result, the 31-year-old Portugal international is set for a spell on the sidelines."

Chelsea have been able to benefit from a recent rule change from UEFA as they replaced Dario Essugo in their 23-man squad for the Champions League with Facundo Buonanotte taking his place. The change was allowed after UEFA granted club's permission to make changes to their squad in the event of a serious injury.

"The Executive Committee approved an amendment to the 2025/26 UEFA men's club competitions' regulations to admit the temporary replacement of a maximum of one outfield player with long-term injury or illness during the league phase until matchday 6 included," UEFA announced earlier this month.

"The reasoning for the adaptation is to ensure that squad lists are not unfairly reduced and players are safeguarded from additional workload pressure."

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