Bayern Munich have announced Arturo Vidal will miss the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash with Real Madrid through injury.
Vidal has only featured in one of Bayern’s last five matches after struggling with a knee injury for nearly four weeks.
The Chile international stepped up his recovery by taking part in Sunday’s training before breaking down with another knee problem.
Bayern have since confirmed that the 30-year-old will require knee surgery and will now be sidelined for sometime.
“He slipped and went down,” Jupp Heynckes told the club’s official website.
“I’ve just spoken to Dr. Muller-Wohlfahrt on the phone. He’s had an MRI scan. Arturo has a loose body in his knee. That’s preventing him stretching. He’s already on his way to Augsburg.
“He needs keyhole surgery on his knee. Arturo will definitely be out of action for a while.”
Vidal has been heavily linked with a summer move away from Bayern and there must now be fears he may have already played his last game for the club.
Bayern wrapped up the Bundesliga title at the weekend and can now concentrate on winning the Champions League for the first time since 2013.
The Bundesliga giants host Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the end of the month before traveling to Spain for the return leg at the start of April.
Of Bundesliga players that have started at least 10 matches this season, only Gelson Fernandes (1 every 19.1 minutes of action) completes a tackle more frequently than Vidal (every 21.1 minutes of action).
Not convinced this will be a huge loss for Bayern. They have great midfield options