Bayern Munich Open Season Without Musiala Amid Health Concerns
Bayern Munich step into a new campaign on Saturday with a familiar edge to the occasion: a showdown with Borussia Dortmund and a trophy on the line. The Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup – the revamped version of the DFL Supercup – launches the German season, and it does so with Bayern already managing a major storyline around one of their brightest talents.
Jamal Musiala will not be involved.
Vincent Kompany goes into his first competitive game in charge with a powerful squad, but the club has drawn a firm line on Musiala’s involvement after two alarming incidents in pre-season. Bayern are refusing to gamble.
Musiala collapsed twice in four days during friendlies against RB Leipzig and Heidenheim. The 23-year-old later explained on social media that a minor neurological issue was behind the episodes, stressing that it will not end his career or stop him playing for Bayern. Even so, the images of him going down have lingered.
Inside the club, though, there is calm rather than panic.
Known condition, new complication
On Friday, ahead of the Super Cup clash, sporting director Max Eberl and Kompany addressed Musiala’s situation. Bayern have known about his neurological condition for over a year. It is not new to the medical staff, nor to the dressing room.
What changed were the side effects.
Recent problems, Eberl and Kompany explained, stem from a change in medication. The adjustment triggered the collapses, prompting an immediate rethink of his treatment plan. Musiala is now expected to return to the previous medication that had kept his condition stable.
The club has rallied around him. Team-mates have publicly backed him in recent days, but behind the scenes they have been aware of his situation for some time. Within Säbener Straße, his health issue is treated as a managed condition, not a daily drama.
Eyes on Stuttgart, not Dortmund
Bayern’s medical and coaching staff watched closely as Musiala trained individually at Säbener Straße this week. The session was tailored, controlled, and monitored. The target is clear: not Dortmund, but the Bundesliga opener.
Despite the scares, Bayern remain optimistic he will be ready to face VfB Stuttgart next Friday when the league campaign begins. The club believes the medication switch back to the previous regime and a carefully managed workload will put him in position to start the season properly.
For Kompany, it means patience now in the hope of a fully firing Musiala over the long haul.
A year to put behind him
The last 12 months have already tested Musiala’s resilience. He suffered a serious injury against PSG in the Club World Cup last summer, an issue that sidelined him for more than seven months. By the time he returned, rhythm and sharpness had to be rebuilt from scratch.
Those lost months have shaped expectations around this season. Bayern hierarchy and fans alike are looking at 2026/27 as a reset, a chance for Musiala to re-establish himself as the creative heartbeat of Die Roten rather than a player constantly battling his own body.
The club’s stance is clear: protect him now, unleash him over the course of the campaign.
Absences for Super Cup curtain-raiser
Musiala is not the only name missing from the team sheet against Dortmund. Lennart Karl and Serge Gnabry will also sit out the Super Cup as they continue their recoveries from injury.
Even without them, Bayern arrive with enough depth and quality to treat the Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup as both a statement and a starting point. The rivalry with Dortmund guarantees intensity. The bigger question hangs over the weeks that follow.
If Bayern’s caution pays off and Musiala returns fully fit for the Bundesliga opener, this brief pause in August could be remembered as the moment that saved his season rather than stalled it.
