Football
Mark Lovell, Bayern Munich blogger 7y

Retired goalkeeper Tom Starke added to Bayern Champions League squad

UEFA have given Bayern Munich the green light to call up veteran goalkeeper Tom Starke to their Champions League squad after losing captain Manuel Neuer to injury until the new year.

Starke, 36, retired at the end of the season to become goalkeeping coordinator at Bayern's new youth academy last month.

However, he had to help out on Bayern's tour of China and Singapore this summer, when both first-choice Neuer (fracture) and backup Sven Ulreich (elbow) were both sidelined with injury.

Neuer, 31, was ruled out until 2018 after suffering his third foot fracture in six months last Monday.

Starke was not originally named in Bayern's Champions League squad. However, UEFA statutes state "if a club cannot count on the services of at least two goalkeepers registered on List A because of long-term injury or illness [i.e. one that lasts 30 days], a club can temporarily replace him at any time during the season."

Despite his howler against Wolfsburg in a disappointing 2-2 draw on Friday, Ulreich will again deputise for Neuer against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek, while David Alaba and Thiago Alcantara both trained on Monday and could make their comebacks from injury.

Alaba suffered an ankle injury while on international duty earlier this month, while Thiago sat out the Wolfsburg game on Friday with a pubic injury.

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