Dayo Upamecano, 24, is working on his rehabilitation.
The German publication Bild described Upamecano’s training process on Saturday (July 26). The publication reported, “Upamecano trained to exhaustion to make his comeback. He did his rehabilitation on Thursday morning at the Straße (Munich training center) and was really tired after 45 minutes,” the publication wrote.
“Upamecano had to do an intense run in the rain. At first, he ran three meters back and forth. Then the path was widened and he had to run 10 meters. At the end of the shuttle run, Upamecano was hanging on to the training center fence, completely exhausted. No wonder, he had been subjected to physical torture. The rehabilitation coach’s fitness sessions were physically demanding and taxing,” he added.
Upamecano has been the first-choice center back alongside Kim Min-jae this season. They played a total of 10 games, including one German Super Cup, seven Bundesliga games, and two Champions League games. The duo was a good combination, as Matthijs de Ligt was out with an injury.
Then an unexpected injury struck. Upamecano was taken off midway through the second half against Freiburg in the seventh round of the Bundesliga. “Upamecano suffered a muscle injury to his left hamstring in the Bundesliga match between Munich and Freiburg on Sunday and will be out of action for the foreseeable future,” the club announced.
Luckily for Munich, De Ligt’s return from injury has allowed them to play a full back line. The combination of Kim and De Ligt started against Mainz 안전놀이터 and Galatasaray in October after the end of the A-Match. Both matches resulted in 3-1 victories, putting the team in third place in the league and first place in their Champions League group.
Bild also commented on the timing of Upamecano’s return. “Upamecano is expected to need around two weeks to return to action. Munich will not take any risks as long as Kim Min-jae and De Ligt are in central defense.”
Assuming two weeks from now, that means he won’t be available until next month’s match against Dortmund on May 5. With the Galatasaray game on the 9th also in doubt, Kim and de Ligt will have their work cut out for them. The sooner the Upamecano can shake off their injuries, the better, especially for Kim Min-jae.