FC Bayern will be without Jamal Musiala for Saturday’s Franz-Beckenbauer-Supercup against Borussia Dortmund, after the club said changes to his medication have affected his availability. It is an important absence for Bayern, but the club has made clear the issue is a health matter and not one that has suddenly emerged.
The 23-year-old has already had recent absences, and Bayern have said those problems were known internally since the full previous season. The exact neurologic condition has not been publicly disclosed, but the club’s explanation places the focus on managing Musiala’s treatment rather than on any fresh alarm over his condition.
Eberl explains the timing
Max Eberl addressed the situation on Friday and said Musiala had altered his medication. He added that the episodes had become more noticeable over a short period of time, but stressed there had never been any danger to Musiala’s body or health.
That matters because it frames the decision for Saturday at 20.30 Uhr very differently from a purely footballing omission. Bayern are not simply leaving out a key attacking player for tactical reasons; they are dealing with a medical situation that needs to be adjusted carefully before he can return.
Why this is being handled carefully
The club’s explanation suggests there is a process to get Musiala back to the point where he had been “very, very long” without episodes. For Bayern, that means patience now rather than pushing for an immediate return in a major match.
It is also why the public reaction around the player has been handled with a degree of caution. Severin Freund, who won Olympic gold with the German team in Sotschi in 2014, has spoken about life with epilepsy and offered a reminder that no two cases are the same. His point was simple: “keine Epilepsie wie die andere.”
Freund also described “schlafgebundenen, fokalen Epilepsie, die große Anfälle mit Ganzkörperkrämpfen macht,” and said it can be “eine echt bescheidene Situation” when someone is suddenly pushed into the public eye at the wrong moment.
For Bayern, the immediate football issue is obvious. Musiala is one of the players who can tilt a big game, and his absence removes a major source of creativity against BVB. But the broader point is more important: this is a health story first, and a selection issue second.
That is why the club’s message has been consistent. Musiala’s condition has been known internally, the medication has now been adjusted, and the next step is to get him back to the level where he had been operating without episodes for a long period.
For Saturday’s Franz-Beckenbauer-Supercup, though, Bayern must plan without him. And that leaves one of their biggest names watching from the sidelines while the season’s first major trophy is on the line.
