Schweinsteiger injury blow to Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is out for a number of weeks after suffering a broken collar bone following a aerial duel with SSC Napoli's Gökhan Inler in last nights UEFA Champions League match.

"The fracture was successfully repaired and a plate inserted in an operation performed at around 2 a.m. on Thursday morning," said Bayern Munich in an official statement, which also said, "The first step in his sports rehabilitation programme will be to resume jogging, before the player is cleared to resume training with the team in approximately six weeks. That in turn means Schweinsteiger will not play again this calendar year."

For Bayern Munich it is a tough blow as Schweinsteiger has been in superb form in recent weeks. The Ballon D'Or candidate has been leading a strong Bayern midfield, creating numerous opportunities for team mates besides also taking care of his defensive duties.

Who Schweinsteiger's replacement could be will have to be seen with Luis Gustavo and Anatoli Timoschtschuk likely first options; but if coach Heynckes wants to add some flair into that position then Toni Kroos could fall back and try to fill in Schweinsteiger's large shoes.

It looks unlikely that Schweinsteiger will play again in 2011, but hopefully he will be fit in January for the mid-season training camp in Doha (Qatar) and then the friendly on January 10, 2012 against India in New Delhi.