Werner blow for Leipzig

BERLIN: RB Leipzig’s head coach cursed “a catastrophe” after star striker Timo Werner was ruled out for at least two weeks with an injury he suffered on his debut for Germany.

The 21-year-old tore a thigh muscle in the 1-0 friendly win over England in Dortmund on Wednesday and is just the latest player ruled of Germany’s World Cup qualifier away to Azerbaijan tomorrow.

Werner, regarded in Germany as the country’s next great forward, will return to his club for treatment.

“To lose a striker in this phase of the season is a catastrophe,” Ralph Hasenhuettl, whose stuttering Leipzig side are hanging on to second place behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, told Bild.

“We have a lot of fixtures coming up and he is out for the games against Darmstadt, Mainz and Leverkusen.

“It will be tight for us up front.” Werner played 77 minutes against England on his debut but had few chances to impress.

“It was a great first game and was loads of fun to play in,” said Werner.

Lukas Podolski’s superb second-half goal settled the glamour friendly for Germany, but coach Joachim Loew has a lengthy injury list ahead of the weekend qualifier.

Goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer, Mario Gomez, Sami Khedira, Julian Draxler and Mesut Ozil all pulled out of the England friendly with minor knocks and injuries.

Germany are five points clear in their World Cup qualifying group. AFP