Musiala lasted about six minutes on the pitch at Heidenheim on Tuesday before his teammates called for the medical staff. It was the second time in three days the 23-year-old had gone to ground during a Bayern Munich pre-season friendly, and after the first collapse he had already been checked, cleared to train and named in the squad again.
Head coach Vincent Kompany sent Musiala on in the 61st minute. Six minutes later he was down in midfield. Jonathan Tah and Harry Kane got there first, and within seconds players from both sides had formed a circle around him as the emergency doctors ran on.
On Tuesday evening Musiala posted a lengthy statement on Instagram, explaining what had been ruled out and what had now been named.
“First things first, I’m doing well.”
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“I have been diagnosed with brief, temporary but treatable absence seizures resulting from a neurological dysfunction.”
Musiala framed the episodes as manageable and said he intended to keep playing.
“With the medical clearance of the neurologists, I want to continue doing what helps my recovery.”
He asked for privacy on the details, adding that he was in close contact with specialists and that there was “no further health risk involved” beyond the episodes themselves.
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What “clearance” does and does not mean
Absence seizures, also called petit mal, are brief lapses of consciousness that typically last only seconds. Massachusetts General Hospital, cited by Yahoo Sports, describes them as causing “a brief, temporary loss of awareness, usually for 5 to 30 seconds.” They are usually managed with antiseizure medication. The Mayo Clinic notes they are most common in children between 8 and 15, though some cases carry into adulthood.
The word medical staff use in these cases is “controlled,” not “cured.” Finding a drug regimen that reliably suppresses the seizures can take weeks or months of adjustment, and until the medication is proven to be working, another episode is exactly what doctors are watching for. That, in effect, is what played out between Leipzig and Heidenheim: Musiala was cleared once, and a second seizure followed on the pitch.
The first collapse came in the 81st minute of Bayern’s 3-1 friendly win over RB Leipzig on Saturday, shortly after Musiala had scored the third goal. Club doctors initially put the incident down to heat and a recent bout of illness, and he was returned to training in time to travel to Heidenheim.
Bayern say little, and play again on Saturday
The club’s public response has been sparse. Sporting director Max Eberl was asked about Musiala’s condition and offered a short line.
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“The most important thing is that he is well. There’s nothing more to say about anything else.”
That leaves the harder question unanswered: who now decides whether Musiala plays. His own statement puts the call with him and his neurologists. His employer had selected him for Heidenheim after the same specialists had cleared him following Saturday. Between medical clearance in a consulting room and a full-contact match, the two are not the same decision.
Bayern face Borussia Dortmund in the German Supercup on Saturday, August 22, before opening the Bundesliga season against VfB Stuttgart on August 28.
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