Muller and Neuer ruled out as Flick gears up for first Germany match

Bayern
Munich
attacker
Muller
has
returned
to
his
club
for
treatment
on
an
adductor
problem,
which
will
see
him
miss
the
games
with
Liechtenstein,
Armenia
and
Iceland
over
the
next
week.

Club-mate
Neuer
has
missed
training
this
week
with
a
minor
ankle
issue,
meanwhile,
and
will
be
replaced
by
Bernd
Leno
in
goal
for
Thursday’s
meeting
with
Liechtenstein.

But
Flick,
who
took
over
as
Germany
boss
following
the
exit
of
long-serving
Joachim
Low,
is
hopeful
of
having
Neuer
back
for
the
visit
of
Armenia
three
days
later.

“We
assume
that
‘Manu’ will
be
back
for
Sunday,”
Flick
said
at
a
news
conference
on
Wednesday
previewing
the
Group
J
clash
with
minnows
Liechtenstein.

“Everyone
could
see
that
he
did
not
take
part
in
practice.
He
won’t
be
available
for
the
match
against
Liechtenstein
and
Bernd
Leno
will
take
his
place.

“Thomas
Muller
will
leave
the
camp.
He’s
got
an
injury
to
the
adductors.
This
won’t
heal
fast
enough
for
Sunday
or
next
Wednesday.

“Wednesday
could
have
actually
worked
out
according
to
our
doctor,
but
the
risk
was
simply
too
high.

“He
would
not
have
been
able
to
do
a
lot
of
work
in
practice
which
is
why
it
makes
sense
to
send
him
home.
We
have
enough
players
on
board
and
are
able
to
replace
him.”

Thursday’s
match
in
St.
Gallen
will
be
Germany’s
first
without
Low
in
charge
since
July
2006,
the
World
Cup-winning
coach
having
officially
stepped
down
after
his
nation’s
last-16
loss
to
England
at
Euro
2020.

Flick
previously
worked
as
Low’s
assistant
for
eight
years
until
after
Germany’s
World
Cup
success
in
Brazil
when
leaving
to
become
Die
Mannschaft’s
sporting
director.

He
has
more
recently
spent
time
in
charge
of
Bayern
and
helped
the
Bavarian
giants
to
seven
major
honours
across
two
seasons.

The
56-year-old
is
now
tasked
with
lifting
Germany
after
a
disappointing
end
to
the
Low
tenure,
which
included
a
shock
2-1
home
loss
to
North
Macedonia
in
their
most
recent
qualifier
five
months
ago.

“I’m
looking
forward
to
my
first
international
game
and
the
responsibility
for
the
nation,”
said
Flick,
who
has
still
yet
to
decide
who
will
captain
the
side.

“During
the
first
training
sessions
we
saw
exactly
what
we
imagined.
The
team
was
active
and
showed
enormous
intensity
and
quality.

“What
I
liked
was
that
they
immediately
tried
to
correct
their
mistakes,
went
into
pressing
straight
after
a
lost
ball.
The
whole
coaching
staff
was
extremely
happy
about
that.

“Those
are
the
things
we
want
to
see:
a
mentality
on
the
pitch
where
you
can
see
from
the
beginning
that
the
team
is
giving
everything
they
have
for
Germany.

“This
is
crucial
for
me.
It
was
nice
to
see.
That’s
why
we
are
totally
convinced
of
this
team.”

Flick
is
now
an
established
manager
in
his
own
right,
but
he
is
open
to
taking
inspiration
from
others
as
he
embarks
on
his
first
managerial
job
on
the
international
stage.

“All
players
have
great
coaches.
Thomas
Tuchel
is
doing
exceptional
work
at
Chelsea,
Pep
Guardiola
at
Manchester
City,
Marco
Rose
at
Borussia
Dortmund.
I
can
name
them
all,”
he
said.

“All
of
them
have
an
idea
of
football
which
is
close
to
ours.
We
can
implement
certain
parts
in
our
game
to
improve.
That
is
crucial.
The
communication
with
the
coaches
is
top,
I
enjoy
it
very
much.

“We
adapt
from
time
to
time.
The
decisive
thing
is
that
everyone
is
open
to
our
idea
of
football
and
what
we
want
to
play.
I
was
able
to
see
that
during
the
training
sessions
we’ve
had
so
far.”

Germany
are
third
in
Group
J
after
three
rounds
of
matches,
level
on
points
with
North
Macedonia
and
three
points
behind
surprise
pacesetters
Armenia,
with
only
the
group
winner
guaranteed
a
place
at
Qatar
2022.