Ribery in line for return, says Guardiola

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has revealed that Franck Ribery could make his return from injury in the Telekom Cup this weekend.

Ribery resumed training with the Bundesliga champions last week after missing France’s World Cup campaign due to a back injury.

Bayern face Borussia Monchengladbach in the pre-season tournament in Hamburg on Saturday as the Bavarians step up their preparations for the new campaign.

And, in his first press conference ahead of the upcoming season, Guardiola hinted that Ribery may be in line to feature.

“Ribery has trained well this week,” Guardiola said. “I think he can play a couple of minutes in Hamburg.”

Several of Bayern’s squad are on holiday following their exploits in Germany’s successful World Cup campaign.

But Guardiola is undaunted by the absence of a number of his key players from pre-season training and insists that Bayern will continue to develop.

“We have to adjust ourselves to the situation [after the World Cup],” he added.

“We will grow step by step.”