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Bayern Munich’s 22-year-old young superstar Jamal Musiala suffered a horrific leg injury at the end of the first half of the team’s 2-0 Club World Cup quarterfinal loss to PSG Saturday in Atlanta. The Germany international, one of the most technical and prolific midfielders in the sport, went after a loose ball in the attacking box just as PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went after it. The Italian goalkeeper dove for the ball and landed on Musiala’s left leg. When the play cleared up, his left ankle could be clearly seen dangling to the side.
Bayern players quickly alerted the goalkeeper to stop playing so that the player could be tended to. Numerous teammates surrounded him and put their hands over their heads in disbelief at the severity of the injury. The referee quickly signaled for the medical team to bring a stretcher out on the field as the teams went into the tunnel for halftime and Musiala received medical treatment.
Musiala was taken to the hospital.
“For me, this isn’t a result of constant playing,” Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said after the game, according to ESPN. “It is more of an accident, it happened, and this is obviously bad for us.”
“It didn’t look good,” Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany said. “If I’m just watching the images, it looked like an ankle injury of some kind, but I’m not going to make a diagnosis here.”
PSG managed to get the winning goal in the 78th minute via a low shot from Desire Doue, yet it was far from smooth sailing the rest of the way. PSG got two red cards, with Willian Pacho (bad tackle) and Lucas Hernandez (elbow to face) both being booted from the match. Despite the two-man advantage, Bayern could not find the equalizer as Ousmane Dembele put home PSG’s second in the sixth minute of added time.
With the win, PSG will face either Real Madrid or Dortmund in the semifinals next week.
Musiala was the Germany national team player of the year last year. He debuted for Bayen at age 17 and became the first teenage to play for Germany at the World Cup since 1958. He’s widely expected to become one of the world’s very best players in the coming years.