Musiala back in Bayern squad but not ready to play full game

Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala will be back in the squad for Saturday’s Bundesliga match against Union Berlin, but the young talent is still not ready to play a full game.

Musiala suffered a muscle injury earlier this month and has been sidelined since. He also missed Germany’s final friendly games of the year against Turkey and Austria.

“We hope there’s no reaction. Then he’ll be in the squad, but it’ll be a brief appearance at most,” coach Thomas Tuchel said during a news conference on Friday.

Forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and defenders Minjae Kim and Noussair Mazraoui are also available.

The game at Bayern will mark the Bundesliga debut of Union new coach Nenad Bjelica, who replaced long-serving Urs Fischer, dismissed in November.

Bjelica had his first game in charge in the 1-1 draw with Braga on Wednesday in the Champions League. With the result, Union extended their winless run to 16 consecutive games.

But Tuchel stressed his focus is on his team.

“You can’t read too much into the game [against Braga] because there was an early red card. We’ll also look at games involving the clubs he’s coached previously.

“We have to concentrate on ourselves and do things better. We want to take it up a notch. The main attention is on us,” he said.

Bayern are second in the Bundesliga, two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

Tuchel also confirmed that Bayern will play a friendly game at Basel on Jan. 6 before they resume their Bundesliga season following the winter break on Jan. 12 against Hoffenheim.