Bayern Munich have suffered an injury blow to Serge Gnabry before Tuesday's Champions League clash with Manchester United.
Thomas Tuchel's side make the trip to Old Trafford this week having already sealed qualification for the last 16 of Europe's elite club competition and won Group A with two games to spare.
The match is far more significant for the under-fire Erik ten Hag and United, who must beat dominant Bayern and hope that FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray also play out a draw on the same night in Denmark in order to progress through to the knockout stages.
Bayern have now been weakened by the confirmed absence of German international Gnabry, who limped out of the second half of Saturday's shock 5-1 Bundesliga defeat away at Eintracht Frankfurt having sustained a thigh problem just five minutes after being introduced alongside Thomas Muller in place of Kingsley Coman and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
The former Arsenal forward will now play no part against United on Tuesday, joining the likes of Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt, Bouna Sarr, Tarek Buchmann and Tom Hulsmann on the sidelines over the coming weeks.
"Serge Gnabry suffered a muscle tendon injury in the left adductor area during the 5-1 defeat in Frankfurt on Saturday," Bayern confirmed in an official club statement on Sunday.
"Gnabry, who had to come off after just five minutes in Frankfurt after coming on as a second-half substitute, will therefore miss the upcoming games."
Gnabry has been a key player for Bayern since joining from Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen in the summer of 2017, scoring 82 goals and registering 51 total assists across all competitions while collecting a glut of major silverware including five straight Bundesliga titles, the Champions League, Uefa Super Cup, Club World Cup and two German Cups.
However, he has been limited to just three league starts so far this term having also suffered with a fractured arm and hip problems before this latest setback.
United have no shortage of injury issues of their own for the crunch meeting with Bayern, with the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof and Tyrell Malacia all still sidelined and former Bundesliga star Jadon Sancho remaining unavailable for selection.
Casemiro joined the likes of Mason Mount and Amad Diallo by returning to the grass at Carrington on Sunday, though won't be ready to face the German giants on Tuesday.
Luke Shaw, Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans are all fit again, while captain Bruno Fernandes is available to play Bayern after a fifth yellow card of the Premier League season collected for dissent in Saturday's woeful 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth that will see him banned for next weekend's huge clash with fierce rivals Liverpool.
