FC Bayern faces a very tough match against Atlético on Tuesday. Surprisingly, one star player will be sitting on the bench.
Ahead of the match, despite all the personnel concerns that remain, there were at least two pieces of good news. Manuel Neuer has recovered from his injury, and Michael Olise—who was substituted against Dortmund over the weekend—has also managed to get fit enough to start.
Just before the match in the Spanish capital, Aaron Danks—who is currently filling in for the ailing Vincent Kompany—answered questions on Amazon Prime Video.
Is there a risk in playing Olise?
Danks spoke about the opponent and his lineup for this matchup. “It’s certainly special to face this club on a night like this in the Champions League. It makes me proud, but of course it’s also going to be a tough game,” Danks said about the evening in the Champions League.
Aleksandar Pavlović won’t be starting. The record champion’s midfielder will be on the bench and will be replaced by Tom Bischof. Danks said of him: “We couldn’t start him today; that would have been a bit of a risk. It’s purely a precautionary measure, but we’re leaving him out for now.”
The conversation then turned to the rest of the squad and, of course, star forward Olise. “There’s good news regarding Manu and Michael. With Michael, it was mainly about getting his pain management under control. He didn’t have a structural injury, but we had to monitor him before we could make a decision.”
So there’s no increased risk of injury for Olise. Meanwhile, Danks has great respect for the opponent and expects a tough challenge: “They can definitely play good soccer, and we’ll have to be fully focused from the start to win this game in the end—that much is clear.”
