Bayern Munich vs Chelsea injury blow confirmed as statement released before Champions League tie

Bayern Munich have been dealt a major injury concern ahead of Chelsea visiting Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening for a Champions League clash.

The Blues and Vincent Kompany's side were both in action on Saturday evening, with the former receiving an injury boost in their 2-2 draw against Brentford, with more arriving in training. After missing two games, Cole Palmer returned from the bench and scored his side's first goal.

With Maresca potentially looking to manage his minutes, he could have missed some training sessions in order to be available from the start in Germany. However, Palmer and Estevao Willian, who missed Saturday's game through illness, were spotted out at Cobham on Tuesday with Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile also featuring.

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Meanwhile, Bayern comfortably strode past Hamburg with a 5-0 victory, keeping them top of the Bundesliga. Goals from Serge Gnabry, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Luis Diaz and a Harry Kane brace sealed the victory with Nicolas Jackson making his debut as a half time substitute.

Raphael Guerreiro also came out for the second half but only managed 17 minutes on the pitch before Tom Bischof replaced him.

Following the victory, Kompany provided a concerning update on the left-back, whose issues have plagued him over the last few months.

“Rapha felt something in his ribs," he admitted in a press conference. "He went straight for an MRI, and we’ll know later what it is. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious." While it does not look like a bad injury, it is severe enough to rule him out of the Chelsea game, as Bayern have seemingly confirmed.

"Raphael Guerreiro sidelined with stomach muscle injury," a club statement began, published on Monday afternoon.

"Raphael Guerreiro suffered a slight injury to his stomach muscles in Bayern’s Bundesliga game against Hamburg, as confirmed by the club’s medical department. As a result, the 31-year-old Portugal international is set for a spell on the sidelines."

Chelsea also released a statement ahead of the Champions League clash this week with Facundo Buonanotte replacing Dario Essugo in their 23-man squad after he underwent surgery on a thigh issue.

A new Champions League rule change announced just before this season's competition has got underway has allowed for that to happen.

"The Executive Committee approved an amendment to the 2025/26 UEFA men's club competitions' regulations to admit the temporary replacement of a maximum of one outfield player with long-term injury or illness during the league phase until matchday 6 included," UEFA announced in a statement earlier this month.

"The reasoning for the adaptation is to ensure that squad lists are not unfairly reduced and players are safeguarded from additional workload pressure."