Schweinsteiger to miss Germany games with MCL injury

Bastian Schweinsteiger will miss Germany’s international friendlies against England and Italy after picking up a medial collateral ligament injury in training, head coach Joachim Low has confirmed.

The captain left Germany’s camp on Wednesday to go for an MRI scan on his knee with Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt in Munich after limping out of the end of Tuesday’s training session.

The world champions play England on Saturday in Berlin before they host Italy in Munich next Tuesday, but Low revealed the 31-year-old was now unavailable for both fixtures.

Schweinsteiger has only recently returned to the pitch after spending two months out for Manchester United between January and March with a knee problem picked up against Sheffield United in the FA Cup.

#Löw: “@BSchweinsteiger has injured his medial collateral ligament, and is unavailable for both #GERENG & #GERITA.” pic.twitter.com/XZ1DSnb9g9

— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) March 23, 2016

While a definite timescale for his latest setback is yet to be revealed, Low is fearing that the midfielder could be set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

“He has injured his medial collateral ligament and is unavailable for both England and Italy,” Low said. 

“We have to wait for the results, but it does not look positive. We expect a call from Dr. Muller-Wohlfahrt today.”

There was some positive news for Germany, with Low confirming that Karim Bellarabi, Julian Draxler and Mesut Ozil were all expected to train normally on Thursday.