Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha is set to miss Celtic clash

Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha is set to miss Champions League knockout playoff clash with Celtic on Wednesday night due to an injury

The two sides meet in two days time in Glasgow’s east end, and both had routine victories over the weekend. Bayern eased off Werder Bremen in Bavaria with a 3-0 victory to go eight clear of Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga table.

Meanwhile, Celtic breezed past Scottish Championship opposition Raith Rovers to book their place in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.

But, Bayern look likely to be without their £47.5m star Palhinha. The 29 year-old missed his side’s encounter with Bremen on Friday night after suffering flu.

“No, I don’t think Joao Palhinha will be on the plane to Scotland”
Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl outlined: “No, I don’t think Joao Palhinha will be on the plane to Scotland.”

The Portuguese internationalist secured a move to the German giants in the summer from English Premier League side Fulham and has made 15 appearances under the guidance of Belgian boss Vincent Kompany.

Despite the injury blow, Kompany reckons there is still plenty of cover as he prepares his team to face the inform Scottish champions. The Bayern Munich manager said: “We are starting to get a lot of our players back from injury now. We have a lot of players back ready. We’ll have Serge Gnabry, Hiroki Ito and maybe even Alphonso Davies back this week. So, we have the squad for it.”