Sadio Mané’s leg injury is not “too serious” and the Senegal international should be fit for the World Cup in Qatar, Bayern Munich’s assistant coach Dino Toppmöller said. Mané had to leave the pitch after 20 minutes of Bayern’s 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on Tuesday.
The forward will key to Senegal’s hopes at the World Cup, where they face the Netherlands in their Group A opener, followed by Qatar and Ecuador.
“Sadio Mané was hit on the leg, which caused him a little nerve pain,” Toppmöller said. “Nothing too serious and his participation in the World Cup should not be in jeopardy.”
Bayern’s head coach, Julian Nagelsmann, said the two-times African Footballer of the Year would undergo scans. “I can’t say anything for sure, he took a blow to the head of his shin,” he said. “That’s an unpleasant spot, it radiates a bit into the muscles. I think he has to go to the X-ray to see if there is something there, because it is splintering easily. But I hope that nothing is wrong. I can’t say anything for sure yet.”
Without Mané, the Bundesliga leaders Bayern still blew Werder away, scoring four goals in the first half, with Jamal Musiala getting the first in the sixth minute before Serge Gnabry scored either side of a strike from Leon Goretzka. Anthony Yunh had equalised for Werder four minutes after Bayern’s opener but the champions took control from there, despite the loss of Mané. Gnabry completed his hat-trick in the 82nd minute before the 17-year-old Mathys Tel scored a late sixth.
Wolfsburg scored at the start and at the end to battle past Borussia Dortmund 2-0, stretching their unbeaten run to seven consecutive matches and ending their opponents’ three-game winning streak.
Wolfsburg’s Micky van de Ven nodded in at the far post from a corner after six minutes. Dortmund hit the post in first half stoppage time with Niklas Süle but it was the hosts who again had the better chances in the second half.
The Wolves, who had lost their previous seven home games to Dortmund, sealed their first win over the visitors in seven years with a Lukas Nmecha tap-in in stoppage time.
Gerard Piqué was shown a red card in his final match before retiring as Barcelona fought back to win 2-1 at Osasuna despite the striker Robert Lewandowski also being sent off in the first half.
Piqué was a substitute but was dismissed after remonstrating with the referee at half-time, after the red card for Lewandowski.
David García had headed Osasuna into the lead from a corner in the sixth minute but Pedri equalised from a rebound right after the break and Raphinha came off the bench to score Barça’s winner five minutes from time, with a brilliant dipping header from outside the box that looped over the goalkeeper into the net.
Barcelona will go into the World Cup break top of La Liga on 37 points, five ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who will host second-bottom Cádiz on Thursday.
The Serie A leaders, Napoli, extended their league winning streak to 10 games when they beat Empoli 2-0 at home thanks to a goal and an assist from the substitute Hirving Lozano. Napoli broke the deadlock when Lozano converted a penalty in the 70th minute after the Empoli midfielder Razvan Marin tripped Victor Osimhen inside the box.
Empoli’s Sebastiano Luperto was sent off after picking up a second yellow card for tripping Lozano in the 74th minute, before the Mexican then crossed for Piotr Zielinski, who found the net in the 88th minute. Napoli top the table with 38 points after 14 games, and got a further boost on Tuesday with second-placed Milan only managing a 0-0 draw at strugglers Cremonese.
Argentina’s Giovani Lo Celso has been ruled out of the World Cup with a hamstring injury for which the midfielder, on loan from Tottenham, requires surgery. The 26-year-old was replaced during Villarreal’s La Liga loss against Athletic Bilbao on 30 October and scans confirmed that Lo Celso suffered a hamstring tear.
