Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso confirmed that Victor Boniface will be sidelined for some time after suffering a thigh injury while on international duty with Nigeria.
Boniface, who has scored eight goals in 15 games in all competitions this season, was substituted late in the Super Eagles' 2-1 defeat to Rwanda on Monday.
It is another blow for Leverkusen, who have scored seventeen points from ten games this season, the worst start to a league match in twelve years by a defending champion.
Only Omar Marmoush and Harry Kane (both eleven) have scored more goals in the league this season than Boniface (six).
Alonso revealed that the 23-year-old will miss Saturday's Bundesliga match against Heidenheim and their Champions League match against RB Salzburg next week.
“We'll have to see how long he will be out. It's a shame,” Alonso said at a news conference.
“He has a thigh injury. For tomorrow, for Salzburg and maybe for a while. We will have to wait and see.
“It's too early to say, but we hope he can still play this year. We have to see how the recovery and improvement develops, but it's not a matter of six or eight weeks.”
The boss of who is available for tomorrow #B04FCH | @CocaCola_De pic.twitter.com/3C9RckiLHN
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) November 22, 2024
Leverkusen has already dropped six points in the Bundesliga (D5, L1) this season, as many times as during the entire title-winning season of 2023/24 (D6).
They come into action against Heidenheim this weekend after a three-match winless run in the Bundesliga (D3), the first time they have gone so long without a win since between April and May 2023 (five games).
Leverkusen is fourth in the Bundesliga, already nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich, as the busy festive program starts on Saturday.
Alonso's side have eight games in just under a month, including a DFB-Pokal round of 16 against Bayern in early December.
“Eight games in four weeks. It's nothing new for us,” Alonso said. “There is an intense phase coming for us and it starts tomorrow.
“We have clear goals for the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup.”
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