Bayern Munich Face Injury Concerns in Telekom Cup

Bayern count the cost as injuries mar Telekom Cup outing

Friendlies are supposed to ease a team into a new season, not rip holes in the starting XI. For Bayern Munich, the Telekom Cup against RB Leipzig turned into an early warning about just how cruel pre-season can be.

Laimer blow sets the tone

The first alarm came barely 10 minutes in. Konrad Laimer went into a challenge with David Raum and came off worse, forced off before the game had even settled. A routine test suddenly carried a hint of jeopardy.

From there, the pattern only darkened.

Kim forced off, Musiala collapses after scoring

By the time the second-half heat began to bite, Min-jae Kim was the next to go. He exited during the second hydration break around the 66-minute mark, another key pillar of Bayern’s spine walking off early.

Then came the most worrying sight of the day.

Jamal Musiala had just produced Bayern’s third goal, a reminder of his brilliance, when he appeared to collapse from heat exhaustion only four minutes later. Medical staff rushed on, and for a moment it looked serious enough that a stretcher was almost required. In a game that should have been about rhythm and sharpness, Bayern were suddenly counting bodies.

Even after the final whistle, the problems did not stop. Sacha Boey cramped up once the match was over, another physical concern on a day that was supposed to be controlled and carefully managed.

Kompany’s first headache

All of this lands on Vincent Kompany’s desk at the worst possible time. The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup arrives next week, with another friendly against Heidenheim still to navigate beforehand. Laimer, Kim, Musiala, Boey — these are not fringe options, they are established first-team players around whom plans are built.

For a club that expects to hit the ground running in the 2026/27 season, this was the last kind of test Bayern needed. Now the question is simple and brutal: how much damage did one summer friendly really do?