Lena Oberdorf suffers another cruciate ligament tear – a month-long break

National soccer player Lena Oberdorf has torn the cruciate ligament in her right knee for the second time in 15 months and will be out for several months. The 23-year-old will undergo surgery on Tuesday, FC Bayern Munich confirmed.

“This news hits us all very hard and we feel for Lena. After her first injury, she worked on her comeback with great will and tireless commitment,” said Bayern director Bianca Rech. “The fact that she now has to experience such a setback again is incredibly hard.”

Oberdorf had to be substituted early after a collision in the German champions’ 5-1 Bundesliga win against 1. FC Köln on Sunday. Supported by carers and with a bandaged knee, she left the pitch on the Bayern campus.

The midfielder was actually supposed to make her comeback in the German team’s Nations League games against France on Friday in Düsseldorf or on the following Tuesday in Caen. The world-class midfielder was called back into national coach Christian Wück’s squad for the first time last week.

In the international match against Austria on July 16, 2024, the 51-time international player suffered a torn cruciate ligament and medial ligament, also in her right knee. Oberdorf was not only out for the Olympic Games in France, where the DFB team won bronze, but also for the European Championships in July in Switzerland.

The loss not only hits FC Bayern hard, which has been plagued by injuries again and again this season, but also the national team. Despite her young age, Oberdorf has been considered a leading player for years.

The DFB nominated her Bayern colleague Linda Dallmann, who had actually been left out of the squad after the European Championships. Wück’s selection met on Monday for the first training session before the games against France.

Oberdorf made her debut for FC Bayern at the end of August in Munich’s Supercup win against VfL Wolfsburg and at the same time made her comeback in a competitive game for FC Bayern – after a 410-day compulsory break. “I’m just happy that I’m playing football again,” Oberdorf said at the time.

The ex-Wolfsburg player had also spoken again about the numerous moments that seemed like “hell” to her: “When others go on the pitch, play football, sit in the gym and lift weights, not being able to stand on the pitch with the players, but sit in the stands, not being able to notice anything going on, not going to the hotel, not going on away trips, not on the bus “It’s going to be like not having a bus seat for a year, which I’ve now managed to get next to Linda Dallmann.” Now the European Championship runners-up in 2022 are facing a long, agonizing break again.

Several studies have shown that women are more likely to suffer cruciate ligament tears in football than men. Due to the same injury, DFB head coach Wück recently had to accept the loss of striker Giovanna Hoffmann (RB Leipzig). Bibiane Schulze Solano (Athletic Bilbao) is currently back in the German squad after a cruciate ligament tear. Long-time national goalkeeper Merle Frohms (formerly Wolfsburg) was caught last week in a Champions League game against Real Madrid.