Coutinho will not start for Bayern vs Schalke: Kovac

Brazilian star midfielder Philippe Coutinho will not make his first Bundesliga start when Bayern Munich travel to Schalke on Saturday, said coach Niko Kovac on Thursday.

Coutinho, 27, has been the talk of Germany since joining Bayern on a one-year loan deal from Barcelona earlier this week.

Yet at a press conference on Thursday, Kovac confirmed the Brazilian would begin his first game as a Bayern player on the bench.

“He is not quite at the level of fitness he needs to play for 90 minutes,” said Kovac.

“He has said that himself, and we don’t want to take any risks. He has only been training for the last two weeks, so he needs to catch up,” he added, but confirmed Coutinho would be in the matchday squad.

“I know a lot of people want us to play him straight away, but everything has to be right.”

Kovac said Bayern’s other new attacking signing, Croatia winger Ivan Perisic, could make the starting eleven against Schalke.

“Ivan is much further along, he started training at the same time as we did, and played several games for Inter Milan in pre-season,” he said.

Bayern are under pressure to pick up three points against David Wagner’s Schalke side, having been held to a draw in their opening Bundesliga game against Hertha Berlin last week.

German champions Bayern had hoped their fans’ enthusiasm with the arrival of Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho this week would spill over onto the pitch when they travel to Schalke 04 on Saturday, but that was not to be with the Brazilian now ruled out of the match.

Defeat in the German Super Cup to Borussia Dortmund and a 2-2 home draw with Hertha Berlin in their Bundesliga opener last week made for a disappointing start to the season for the Bavarians.

Another slip-up at Schalke would set the alarm bells ringing at Bayern, who have won the last seven league titles.

With title rivals Dortmund wrapping up most of their signings by May, Bayern fans were less than impressed with the club’s lack of activity in the transfer market but that changed last week.

After missing out on several over the last couple of months, Bayern completed loan deals for Inter Milan forward Ivan Perisic and Barcelona’s Coutinho, and signed France youth international Mickael Cuisance.

The transfer window in Germany shuts next week.

Coutinho, who joined Barcelona from Liverpool in January last year for about $170 million, was the third most expensive transfer in history but has failed to hit the same heights at the Camp Nou as he did at Anfield.

Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski, who had repeatedly called for reinforcements if the club were to remain competitive, said Coutinho was a game changer.

“Players like him can decide whether you win the game or not,” said Lewandowski.

“With such a player one can play together with no problems from the very first game.”

Coutinho was described as being in top condition after passing his medical on Sunday.

Bayern struck a deal for a loan fee of 8.5 million euros ($9.44 million) plus his wages but they know the move will essentially only have been a success if at the end of the season they make the deal permanent for a fee of 120 million euros.

Agencies