FC Bayern, news and rumours: Worst-case scenario for Kimmich and Olise? "Anything other than a suspension would be surprising."

Long-time top referee Manuel Gräfe has predicted that FC Bayern will have to do without Joshua Kimmich and Michael Olise for a longer period of time as a result of their yellow card suspensions for time-wasting against Atalanta Bergamo.

Kimmich and Olise received their third yellow cards of the competition in quick succession during set pieces with the score at 6-0, meaning they will miss what is likely to be a meaningless return leg on Wednesday. This is an exceptionally manageable loss for Bayern, who, as things stand, can now go into a potential quarter-final against Real Madrid or Manchester City without any worries.

However, according to Gräfe, both will miss at least the first leg if Bayern advance to the last eight as expected. The 52-year-old referred to the UEFA disciplinary regulations, which state that additional suspensions, such as the one imposed on Sergio Ramos in 2019, can only be imposed in cases of "clear deliberate intent to obtain a yellow or red card". "Now, proving intent is just as difficult as proving handball, because you can't look inside people's heads, but that's why there is indirect evidence," Gräfe wrote on Twitter.

Although Kimmich's explanation of the situation in which he was shown the yellow card was a "good attempt", it would not stand up to scrutiny by UEFA. Kimmich had pointed out that he had no free passing options and did not want to play into the opposition's pressing. "UEFA will look at the footage and see that the ball was easily playable at the start (Tah was free)," Gräfe explained.

Kimmich "could also have played a long ball, and since Bayern otherwise build up very close to their own penalty area and press a lot, the argument is unlikely to be convincing," Gräfe argued. To make matters worse, the score was 6-0, so there was no reason to waste time, which is why "anything other than an investigation and a suspension would be surprising."

However, Gräfe also conceded that UEFA may want to have the "top players on board" for its highlight matches in the quarter-finals and that Kimmich's argument could therefore be "good enough". But: "There are no amateurs at UEFA and everyone knows what happened there."

At present, however, it looks as if the two Bayern stars will not be facing another game in the stands. On the one hand, UEFA announced that the official match report would be evaluated first. "As soon as incidents are reported, proceedings will be initiated. Should these lead to disciplinary measures, they will be published on the UEFA disciplinary homepage," the association said in a statement. 

However, L'Equipe has already reported that Norwegian referee Espen Eskas did not note any irregularities involving Kimmich or Olise. In this respect, a suspension would be very surprising, contrary to what Gräfe claimed.

Comment: Abolish the rule! The Kimmich and Olise cases must shake UEFA into action.

It was clear from the club's official diagnoses that Alphonso Davies, with his thigh strain, and Jonas Urbig, with his concussion, would be out of action for at least the next few competitive matches for FC Bayern.

Davies is not expected to return until after the international break in April, while Urbig is likely to miss Saturday's league match against Bayer Leverkusen as well as the Champions League return leg against Atalanta Bergamo.

And Jamal Musiala? After the 6-1 gala in Bergamo, he is suffering from "pain in his left ankle, which he injured in the summer" - and, as Sky reports, Musiala will subsequently miss at least Saturday's match against Leverkusen. Given the comfortable lead in the second leg against the Italians on Wednesday, will Vincent Kompany risk further strain? Unlikely. Musiala will probably only play again in the home game against Union Berlin.