Ahead of the Champions League round-of-16 first leg clash against Arsenal on February 15, the Bundesliga champions have been given a double injury boost with two key midfielders expected to be fully fit.

Thiago Alcantara (25) and Arturo Vidal (29) are two important players in Carlo Ancelotti’s ever-improving side, and have already established themselves as regulars under their new boss this season.

Thiago, who has scored three and created four assists across all competitions this term, has played in a number of different positions already under his new manager in Bavaria. A central midfielder by preference, he has also filled into a more defensive-minded role whilst showing his attacking tendencies when given freedom to roam forward as the number ten.

The Spaniard has been sidelined in recent weeks with a thigh muscle injury sustained during their winter training camp and was not included in the matchday squad to face Freiburg in a narrow 2-1 win last Friday.

Having returned to full training this week, he’s expected to feature in some capacity before the Arsenal clash in mid-February, improving his match sharpness as a result.

Arturo Vidal’s presence is arguably the more significant out of the midfield duo and the Chilean, who was substituted after 55 minutes against Freiburg, is nursing a rib injury. With that being said, he’s expected to play a part in at least a handful of Bayern’s upcoming fixtures before they host Arsenal with Schalke, VfL Wolfsburg (DFB-Pokal) and Ingolstadt all to come before the highly-anticipated first leg.

Ancelotti has himself already revealed the fact that neither player will feature against Werder Bremen in their Bundesliga match on Saturday, meaning the likes of Renato Sanches and Joshua Kimmich could potentially start for the league leaders.

Source: Bild