Musiala's Health Incident Overshadows Bayern's 4-2 Win

For a few unsettling minutes in Heidenheim, the scoreline stopped mattering.

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 pre-season change, nothing more. Six minutes later, alarm.

Musiala went down in midfield with no contact. The scene instantly echoed the worrying episode from the friendly against RB Leipzig. Jonathan Tah and Harry Kane sprinted towards him, waving urgently for help. Players from both sides quickly formed a protective circle while emergency doctors rushed onto the pitch. The Voith-Arena fell quiet.

After brief treatment, Musiala slowly got back to his feet. Supported by a staff member, he staggered towards the touchline, clearly disorientated. Then, after a few metres, he turned away and disappeared down the tunnel on the opposite side of the pitch. His name rang out from the stands. When the stadium announcer confirmed he would be replaced by Cassiano Kiala, the home of 1. FC Heidenheim responded with warm applause.

“We knew and know about it”

In the mixed zone after Bayern’s 4-2 win, board member for sport Max Eberl tried to calm the immediate fears without going into detail.

“Jamal will speak about it himself in the foreseeable future. We knew and know about it,” Eberl said when asked about the attacker’s condition. And how was Musiala in that moment? “He’s in the dressing room, he’s getting changed, he’s having a shower.”

The explanation followed shortly afterwards – from Musiala himself.

Musiala’s own words: “First things first – I’m fine”

A few minutes later, the 23-year-old addressed the incident in a long Instagram post.

“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.”

“These can lead to the moments that have happened recently, like against Leipzig or now here in Heidenheim,” he continued. “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” describe brief, sudden lapses of consciousness, often in the context of an epileptic seizure. They usually last only around five to 15 seconds. Those affected stare blankly, do not respond, then come back quickly – with no memory of the episode. The condition can be treated with medication.

Result pushed into the background

On any other day, Bayern’s 4-2 win would have dominated the headlines. Felipe Chavez, Arijon Ibrahimovic, Luis Diaz and new signing Nathaniel Brown all found the net in an open, entertaining test match.

Instead, the goals became a side note.

Musiala’s collapse against Heidenheim came just days after a similar incident late in the 3-1 friendly win over RB Leipzig on Saturday. He then missed Bayern’s team presentation at the Campus on Monday, working only individually. Against that backdrop, his appearance in Heidenheim already felt like a surprise. His early exit turned it into a talking point for very different reasons.

The timing is delicate. On Saturday, Bayern travel to Borussia Dortmund for the Supercup – the first real marker of Kompany’s tenure. The football world will watch the touchline and the scoreboard, but many eyes will drift to the bench and the team sheet, searching for one name.

A career already marked by setbacks

Musiala knows physical setbacks all too well. More than a year ago, he broke his fibula at the Club World Cup and suffered severe damage to his ankle joint. He returned in January, but the explosive, free-flowing version of Musiala has not yet fully reappeared.

Immediately after his disappointing World Cup, he also had a metal plate removed from his left foot. Each time, the expectation was the same: he would heal, he would adapt, he would come back.

Now the challenge is different. Less visible, more unsettling. But, as he stresses, treatable.

Bayern won in Heidenheim, the goals flew in, and the Supercup against Dortmund is looming. The bigger question is whether one of Europe’s most gifted attacking players can finally step into a season without another interruption – or whether these brief, frightening pauses will keep interrupting a career that still feels like it’s only just begun.