Alaba escapes knee ligament damage

Bayern Munich defender David Alaba suffered heavy bruising rather than knee ligament damage during the weekend’s 5-0 German Super Cup win over Eintracht Frankfurt, the club have said.

With Bayern 4-0 up thanks to a Robert Lewandowski hat trick and a goal from Kingsley Coman, Alaba tangled with Eintracht’s Danny da Costa and had to leave the pitch after prolonged treatment.

Bayern, who had already used all their substitutes, played the final 15 minutes with 10 men but added a fifth goal through Thiago Alcantara, and coach Niko Kovac told German broadcaster ZDF that “the injury to Alaba is the only downer.”

Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic was less than impressed with Frankfurt’s robust approach, telling reporters after the final whistle: “Frankfurt’s style of play wasn’t OK.”

A scan revealed that Alaba’s knee was only badly bruised, and although it is not yet known when the Austria international will return to training, it is thought that it will be a matter of days rather than the six weeks originally feared.

Meanwhile, Sportbuzzer reported that Bayern and Germany midfielder Sebastian Rudy was spotted at the RB Leipzig training complex on Friday.

Sport Bild said earlier this month that Leipzig wanted Rudy to fill the hole left by Naby Keita’s departure to Liverpool and were looking for a loan deal with an option to buy.

Alaba played for Austria at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. In October 2009, he was called up to the senior Austria national team for a match against France. He made his debut in this game, making him the youngest player in the history of the Austrian national team.

He scored his first goal for Austria on 16 October 2012 in a World Cup Qualifying game at home to Kazakhstanwhere Austria were 4–0 winners.

At the age of just 19, Alaba won the prestigious vote for Austrian Footballer of the Year in 2011. In the poll organised by APA (Austrian press agency) among the coaches of the ten Austrian Bundesliga clubs, Alaba finished top on 21 points, just ahead of Austria Wien’s Dutch star Nacer Barazite (20 points) and VfB Stuttgart’s Martin Harnik.

In December 2012, he received the award for the second consecutive year.

On 10 September 2013, Alaba scored the only goal of the game against Ireland in the 84 minute to give Austria a 1–0. He scored the final goal in Austria’s 3–0 win in the final qualification match against Faroe Islands.

Alaba ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as Austria’s top scorer with six goals.

He scored a ninth-minute Panenka-style penalty kick on 8 September 2015 to open a 4–1 away win over Sweden at the Friends Arenain Solna. The result qualified Austria for UEFA Euro 2016, their first successful qualification campaign for the continental championship.

On 24 March 2017, he captained Austria for the first time in a World Cup 2018 Qualification game against Moldova in a 2–0 victory, deputizing in the absence of suspended captain Julian Baumgartlinger