Bayern striker Sadio Mané will be absent from the Munich squad for the Bundesliga match against Hoffenheim on Saturday (3:30 p.m.), due to a heated argument with Leroy Sané on Tuesday after the match at Manchester City, the Bavarian club announced Thursday in a statement.
Bayern has suspended and fined a 31-year-old Senegalese player for his misconduct after their Champions League match against Manchester City, according to the club. The player, Sadio Mané, will not be available for the match but will be at the disposal of his coach, Thomas Tuchel, for the second leg of the C1 quarterfinal against Manchester City on Wednesday. The incident occurred after Bayern's defeat in Manchester, where tensions rose between Mané and German international player Sané in the dressing room of the Etihad Stadium. The altercation led to Mané hitting Sané in the face, resulting in a bloody lower lip.
Both players attended Bayern's training session on Thursday morning, with Tuchel speaking to Mané in private. Before training, Mané was summoned by Bayern's sporting director and chairman of the board to explain his actions. This incident is just one episode in the ongoing "FC Hollywood" drama, where Bayern's star players have been involved in various controversies throughout the 2022/23 season.
Other incidents include Serge Gnabry's unappreciated appearance at Fashion Week in Paris, goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer's outburst against his managers, and the surprise dismissal of coach Julian Nagelsmann. This incident is also reminiscent of other altercations in the Bavarian dressing room, such as Lothar Matthäus and Bixente Lizarazu exchanging slaps in 1999, and Franck Ribery's altercation with Arjen Robben in 2012.
Mané joined Bayern in the summer of 2022 from Liverpool for an estimated transfer fee of 32 million euros. He was previously injured from November to February due to a right fibula injury, causing him to withdraw from the World Cup 2022 with Senegal.