FC Bayern Forum

The autumn weather in northern Europe this year has been variable to say the least, with warm spring-like days followed by chilly temperatures and even snowfall. Colds and flu are almost unavoidable in the circumstances, and a nasty bug has taken hold at Bayern. It all started with boss Jupp Heynckes, who somehow made the dugout for the away trip to Mainz two weeks ago, but spent the next day in bed with a fever.

The infection has laid low a handful of players this week. Arjen Robben and Toni Kroos were unable to make the midweek trip to Manchester, while Mario Gomez, Thomas Müller and Daniel van Buyten remained on the bench despite FCB being in a losing position, as all three were showing flu symptoms. Fortunately, Heynckes did not have to call on any of the trio, due to the meaningless nature of the match for Bayern's position in the group, "and that was a positive," the boss said on Friday.

Bundesliga leaders FCB travel to face fellow south German outfit VfB Stuttgart on Sunday evening, determined to preserve their advantage in the table at a minimum. However, the shape of the Bayern team remains uncertain, as Heynckes was unable to say on Friday whether all the men on the sick list would recover in time. "We'll only be able to say for certain if they're out on the field this Sunday," the 66-year-old remarked.

However, there was positive news from the practice ground, for although the first-team squad was officially on a day off, Gomez, Robben, Van Buyten and Kroos all reported to be Säbener Strasse on Friday and completed a 90 minute workout supervised by assistant coach Peter Hermann.

Fitness tests in final training

Franck Ribéry, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer, David Alaba, Nils Petersen, Takashi Usami, Breno and Rouven Sattelmaier also joined in the voluntary session. "I left it up to the players whether they reported for training," Heynckes revealed, as the travel plan to and from Manchester in midweek had been strenuous, with the Bayern party not touching down in Munich until 6 pm the previous evening.

The final pre-match workout prior to the Stuttgart clash is on Saturday, after which Heynckes will know which players are definitely available for the 16th Bundesliga fixture of term. "Flu like this one sometimes lingers," the coach noted. Robben, who had the "worst blood test results" on Monday, according to Heynckes, is now "significantly better. If Arjen's fit, he'll start in Stuttgart."