The attacking midfielder tore a muscle fibre in his right thigh while warming up for Germany’s Nations League meeting with the Netherlands on 24 September, and has since been working through individual rehabilitation sessions in Munich.
Head coach Vincent Kompany and his medical staff have ruled Musiala out of the Arsenal tie on 23 October and of the Bundesliga match against SC Freiburg on 26 October. Bayern are instead plotting a return before the end of the month, with either the DFB-Pokal second-round tie at third-tier 1. FC Magdeburg on 28 October or the Bundesliga visit to Borussia Dortmund on 31 October in play as the first realistic fixtures.
Eberl sticks to the October target
Eberl set out the timetable after Bayern’s 6-1 home win over RB Leipzig on 17 October.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be enough against Arsenal. Now he’s being introduced slowly, slowly, but in October he’s still coming back,” Eberl said.
The Leipzig fixture passed without Musiala on the bench, but the club confirmed he had continued his rehabilitation on the training pitch that same day.
Kompany confident Musiala will fight back
Musiala’s absence has become a recurring theme at Bayern. Speaking at his pre-match press conference last week, Kompany was asked about the run of setbacks and framed the recovery as part of a longer career arc.
“I can relate to his story of setbacks. I’ve experienced that often in my own career. Coming back from that is a great strength,” the manager told reporters.
“That’s something Jamal has always shown. In every situation, he knows how to fight his way back and he always comes back.”
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Kompany also pointed to the lift Musiala’s performances have given the squad when he has been available.
“We’ve seen how happy the team and fans are when he scores a goal. We’ll experience those moments again.”
Second long layoff in just over a year
The current layoff is the second long absence for Musiala in just over a year. In July 2025 he underwent surgery after a collision with Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma at the Club World Cup quarter-final, in which doctors found he had sustained a fibula fracture and a dislocated ankle. Bayern described the recovery as “lengthy” at the time, and he spent about three and a half months out before returning to competitive football.
The Pokal tie at Magdeburg kicks off on 28 October, with the Dortmund derby three days later.
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