MANUEL NEUER was forced off with an injury after a failed attempt to clear the ball during Bayern Munich’s win over Dinamo Zagreb last night.
The Champions League clash saw Bayern batter their Croatian opponents 9-2.
Neuer, who is known for his sweeper keeper tendencies, was keen to make his presence felt in a game that he was likely to have very little influence on.
And the German shot-stopper did so by coming up for a header during the first half to prevent Zagreb from starting a counter attack against his side.
However, the 38-year-old collided with Zagreb forward Bruno Petkovic and took a nasty fall to the ground.
An incredible still from the game showed the moment that Neuer lost his bearings in the air and had his feet way above his head as he plummeted to the ground.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Fans couldn’t help but tease the 124-time German international with the image looking like he was attempting some kind of half-way line bicycle kick.
One wrote: “Neuer really tried to replicate [Cristiano] Ronaldo’s bicycle kick against Zagreb.”
While another added: “Goalkeeper doing Bicycle kicks midgame. This guy is not human.”
A third joked: “Who’s that striker? Is that Zlatan [Ibrahimovic], trying out the spectacular? Nope! It’s Neuer perfecting a bicycle kick from the centre of the pitch! It’s normal!”
Most read in Champions League
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
And a fourth posted: “Gonna tell my kids he scored a Puskas worthy bicycle kick from the half-way line”.
As much as fans managed to get a kick out of the moment, Neuer’s fall was actually quite serious – so much so that he was substituted at half-time with an injury.
The veteran keeper was replaced by Sven Ulreich at the break with manager Vincent Kompany not wanting to take any risks.
And things took a turn when Ulreich came on the pitch.
Bayern had been leading 3-0 at half-time with the Bavarians looking comfortable at home.
But less than five minutes into the second half and Ulreich had unbelievably conceded TWICE and let Zagreb back into the game.
Embarrassingly the second goal, scored by Takuya Ogiwara, had gone in thanks to a nutmeg by the Japanese left-back on Ulreich.
Thankfully for the substitute keeper, Bayern didn’t lose complete control of the game and went on to bang in SIX second half goals and won the game 9-2.
Former Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise netted twice on his Champions League debut.
While Harry Kane scored FOUR goals – including a hattrick of penalties.
Kane’s quartet means he is now the highest scoring Englishman in the history of the Champions League, overtaking Wayne Rooney’s record of 30 goals in the competition.
The England captain has now netted 33 times in Europe’s elite tournament and has done so in 40 less games than Rooney managed his 30 goals.
Bayern are now top of the Champions League league phase table thanks to their monster +7 goal difference.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
And in other positive news, boss Kompany revealed that Neuer’s injury is not serious, explaining that he took the Bayern captain off as a precaution.
He said: “He is fit. We just knew straight away that we didn’t want to take any risks and we have a good replacement in Sven Ulreich.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
