Bayern Munich Faces Injury Crisis After Telekom Cup Match

Bayern count the cost as injuries pile up in bruising Telekom Cup outing

Friendlies are supposed to settle nerves, sharpen legs, and hand minutes to the squad players waiting in the wings. Bayern Munich walked away from the Telekom Cup with something very different: a growing injury list and a knot in Vincent Kompany’s stomach a week before the season kicks off.

The match against RB Leipzig had barely found its rhythm when the first blow landed. Just 10 minutes in, Konrad Laimer went into a challenge with David Raum and came off worse. The midfielder, a key cog in Bayern’s pressing and build-up, had to leave the pitch, cutting his outing short before he could ever impose himself on his former club.

That was only the start.

As the heat rose and the pace refused to drop, Min-jae Kim became the next casualty. The central defender exited during the second hydration break at the 66-minute mark, another first-team regular forced out before full time. For a coach trying to build defensive stability, losing his cornerstone in a pre-season friendly is the last thing he needs.

Then came the most alarming moment of the afternoon.

Jamal Musiala, who had just lit up the contest by scoring Bayern’s third goal, suddenly went down around four minutes later. He appeared to collapse from heat exhaustion, and for a moment the atmosphere shifted from pre-season tune-up to genuine concern. Medical staff rushed on; a stretcher was nearly required. Musiala eventually left the pitch, but the image of Bayern’s creative talisman struggling in the heat will linger.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was one final sting after the whistle. Sacha Boey, who had completed the match, cramped up once the game was over. Not as serious as the earlier incidents, but another physical warning sign on a day that was supposed to be about rhythm, not risk.

The timing could hardly be worse. The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup looms next week, with another friendly against Heidenheim still to navigate in the coming days. All the players affected against Leipzig — Laimer, Kim, Musiala, Boey — are firmly in the first-team picture. Bayern’s core is being tested before a ball has even been kicked in the 2026/27 Bundesliga campaign.

For Kompany, the headache is obvious: manage minutes, push fitness, chase sharpness — and somehow keep his mainstays on the pitch. The injuries may yet prove minor, but the warning has been delivered. How much more can Bayern gamble before the real season begins?