Alphonso Davies made his much-anticipated return to Bayern Munich on Tuesday, coming back after nearly nine months of recovery from a serious knee injury.
The Canadian international entered the match in the 88th minute during Bayern’s 3-1 victory in the Champions League over Sporting CP.
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“It was great to see Alphonso Davies back on the field after such a lengthy and serious injury,” said Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany.
“I didn’t want him to feel the pressure to turn the game around today, but given how the match played out, I felt he could contribute. We’re definitely happy to have him back.”
Davies substituted for Serge Gnabry, who had earlier equalized with a goal after Joshua Kimmich scored an own goal. Lennart Karl, at just 17 years old, became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League matches, before Jonathan Tah secured the win for the Bundesliga leaders.
Most of the accolades, however, were directed towards Davies.
The left back has been sidelined since March, when he suffered a ligament tear and additional damage to his right knee while playing for Canada against the United States in a Concacaf Nations League match for third place. This injury led Bayern to criticize the Canadian national team for allegedly not conducting adequate medical checks before Davies returned to Germany.
“We’re all really happy for Alphonso Davies,” said Gnabry. “His recovery journey has been long. We all know how crucial he is to our team, so we’re extremely glad to see him back — and we hope he gets back to peak form soon.”
Information sourced from The Associated Press was included in this report.