It takes a particular combination of misfortune and bad timing to exhaust three senior goalkeepers in the space of one week, but Bayern Munich have managed exactly that heading into one of the most important stretches of their season.
Manuel Neuer suffered a torn calf muscle during the Bundesliga win over Borussia Mönchengladbach the previous Friday, ruling him out until after the international break at minimum.
Jonas Urbig, the January signing who had been deputising smoothly as Neuer’s replacement, then sustained a concussion during the Champions League first leg against Atalanta — which Bayern won 6-1 — when he was struck in the head and had to leave before halftime.
That left Sven Ulreich, 37 years old and 539 days since his last competitive appearance, to start at the BayArena against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday in one of the trickiest fixtures Bayern face all season.
Ulreich’s story leading into the game carried weight that had nothing to do with football. Last summer he announced that his six-year-old son Len had died after a long illness, and he had stepped away from training and travelling with the squad during the months that followed.
Bayern had publicly praised the way Ulreich handled an unimaginably difficult period. “Sven is a great character,” sporting director Max Eberl said on Friday. “We know that he is ready in such a crisis moment. Sven will be in goal and we know he’ll do as well as the other two.”
Kompany was measured and protective of his goalkeeper: “He’s a solid character and a solid goalkeeper. We’re not increasing the pressure on him, he’s not the centre of attention. Ulle has always done things right in training and he should show that tomorrow.”
In the game itself, Ulreich made six saves and was arguably the reason Bayern left Leverkusen with a point rather than a defeat, with the visitors finishing the match reduced to nine men following red cards for Nicolas Jackson and Luis Díaz.
Then came the sucker punch. After the final whistle, Ulreich admitted: “I felt something in my thigh. I hope it’s nothing serious.” Bayern confirmed on Monday that the feeling was justified — an adductor muscle tear that will keep him out for several weeks.
With all four senior goalkeepers now unavailable — Leon Klanac, the fourth-choice option, is also sidelined with a thigh issue — Bayern face the prospect of starting either 19-year-old Jannis Bärtl or 16-year-old Leonard Prescott in the Champions League second leg against Atalanta on Wednesday.
The timing is brutal given the context: Bayern still lead the Bundesliga but Borussia Dortmund are closing, the Champions League knockout stage requires full focus, and Saturday’s DFB-Pokal quarter-final against Leverkusen adds another fixture to a suddenly threadbare goalkeeping department.
Kompany’s management of a nine-man defence for the final stretch against Leverkusen showed his ability to adapt to extreme circumstances, but even his capacity for crisis management will be tested if a teenager has to start a Champions League knockout match within 72 hours.
