FC Bayern go to SC Freiburg on Sunday at 17:30 with the Bundesliga lead on the line, and they do it without Vincent Kompany on the bench. The coach collapsed on Friday at the training ground, was taken by ambulance to a clinic and is expected to stay in hospital for a few more days.
That leaves Bayern trying to protect first place at the end of the matchday while Borussia Dortmund have already pushed the race tighter by winning on Saturday evening. Bayern have 14 points, one more than Freiburg, and the game now carries the kind of weight that turns an ordinary league visit into a test of control.
Joshua Kimmich is also out after a family bereavement, and he had already missed the 2-2 draw with FC Arsenal in the Champions League during the week. Aaron Danks is handling the touchline work in Kompany's absence, and he made the message plain: the football side is now in the staff's hands, while he said he has learned how strong the group is and how strong its winning mentality can be.
The problem for Bayern is not only who is missing, but how many different pieces are missing at once. Manuel Neuer, Jamal Musiala, Luis Diaz, Minjae Kim and Aleksandar Pavlovic are also unavailable, and Pavlovic is out with calf problems. Jonas Urbig is set to start in goal again, which tells you how stretched the squad has become before a match that could shape the top of the table.
Freiburg have reason to believe this is the right moment to press. They have 13 points and sit third, they have won all five of their competitive home matches this season, and they have not lost at home for almost half a year. Julian Schuster called Bayern the biggest of Freiburg's three challenges, a fair description for a side that has not beaten them in 20 Bundesliga meetings.
Bayern still arrive with numbers that explain why they remain top. They are unbeaten in 29 Bundesliga away matches, have lost only one of their last 49 league games and have scored 22 goals, the best attack in the division. Even so, they have conceded 10 goals in their last nine competitive matches, a reminder that the margin between authority and vulnerability is thin when the coach is in hospital and the squad is depleted.
What happens next is simple enough: Freiburg and Bayern meet on Sunday at 17:30, and the result will either keep Bayern in control of first place or give the table a new leader to chase.
