Musiala's Health Scare Overshadows Bayern's Victory
For a few long seconds in Heidenheim, the football didn’t matter.
Vincent Kompany had just turned to Jamal Musiala on the hour mark, sending him on in the 61st minute for new signing Ismael Saibari. A routine change in a routine pre-season test – until it wasn’t.
Six minutes later, Musiala went down in midfield. No challenge, no contact, just a sudden collapse. The scene instantly brought back memories of the incident against RB Leipzig days earlier. Jonathan Tah and Harry Kane sprinted towards him, arms waving for help. Players from both sides quickly formed a protective circle as emergency doctors rushed onto the pitch. The Voith-Arena fell into that eerie, anxious quiet football knows too well.
After brief treatment, Musiala got back to his feet. He looked dazed, supported by a member of staff as he staggered towards the touchline. After a few metres he turned, then disappeared down the tunnel on the opposite side. The crowd reacted instinctively: his name rang out around the stadium. When the announcer confirmed he was being replaced by Cassiano Kiala, the worry turned into warm applause.
“First things first – I’m fine”
In the mixed zone, Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl tried to calm the situation without revealing too much.
“Jamal will speak about it himself in the foreseeable future. We knew and know about it,” he said. Asked how Musiala was in that moment, Eberl added: “He’s in the dressing room, he’s getting changed, he’s having a shower.”
Musiala didn’t wait long to speak. A short while later, he posted a detailed message on Instagram, directly addressing the images that had alarmed fans twice in a matter of days.
“First things first – I’m fine,” he wrote. “I understand that many of you are worried. I would like to take that worry away from you today and explain it to you: I have been diagnosed with temporary, briefly occurring but easily treatable absences, which are due to a neurological dysfunction.”
He continued: “These can lead to the moments that have happened recently, like against Leipzig or now here in Heidenheim. I know that at first glance they look scary – but for me they are currently part of everyday life. I am receiving the best possible medical treatment for this and am very optimistic.” According to Musiala, there is “no further health risk beyond that”.
Medically, absences are short, sudden lapses of consciousness, usually a form of epileptic seizure. They typically last only five to 15 seconds. Those affected stare blankly, do not respond, and then quickly return to normal – with no memory of what just happened. The condition can be treated with medication.
Football pushed to the margins
By the final whistle, Bayern’s 4-2 win had become a footnote.
Felipe Chavez, Arijon Ibrahimovic, Luis Diaz and new signing Nathaniel Brown were all on the scoresheet for the German champions in Heidenheim, but their goals felt secondary once Musiala had left the field. The friendly was supposed to sharpen Bayern for Saturday’s Supercup trip to Borussia Dortmund. Instead, it raised fresh questions about the fitness of one of their most gifted players.
This was not an isolated scare. Musiala had already gone down shortly before the end of Saturday’s friendly against RB Leipzig (3-1). He then missed the team presentation at the Campus on Monday, working only individually. Against that backdrop, his appearance in Heidenheim had already come as a surprise. His early exit turned surprise into concern.
A long road back
The 21-year-old’s last year has been anything but straightforward. More than twelve months ago, at the Club World Cup, he broke his fibula and suffered severe damage to his ankle joint. He finally returned in January but has yet to rediscover the explosive, free-flowing form that once made him Bayern’s most unpredictable weapon.
Immediately after his disappointing World Cup, he also had a metal plate removed from his left foot – another procedure, another interruption, another hurdle in a stop-start spell of his young career.
Now comes a new challenge, this time neurological rather than orthopedic. Musiala insists he is being treated, that the episodes are brief, controllable, and not a wider threat to his health. Bayern, for their part, say they have long been aware of the issue.
The Supercup at Dortmund is looming. The season is coming fast. The question is no longer just how Kompany will set up his new-look Bayern – it’s how often he will be able to count on Jamal Musiala at all.
