A report in Bild claims the German record champions' forward was "frustrated" at not playing in the 3-3 draw against the Norwegian underdogs. The 31-year-old reportedly trudged to the team bus after the final whistle, the first Bayern Munich player to do so and well ahead of his team-mates.
Coach Vincent Kompany used his full allocation of substitutions. At half-time, with the score at 0-2, the Belgian brought on Dayot Upamecano, Alphonso Davies and Ismael Saibari for Jonathan Tah, Nathaniel Brown and Lennart Karl. After Michael Olise's unnecessary dismissal in the 74th minute, Kompany turned to defensive changes. He took off Luis Diaz in the 77th minute and then Saibari in the 83rd. Gnabry had apparently hoped to play, but defenders Josip Stanisic and Hiroki Ito, who has barely featured this season, came on instead. Viking equalised in stoppage time.
Down to ten men, Kompany had reason to make defensive changes late on. The artificial pitch is also likely to have played a part in Gnabry's omission. The controversial surface carries a certain injury risk, and Gnabry is supposed to be eased back carefully after his five-month absence with an adductor tear in his right thigh.
Getty ImagesSerge Gnabry: Little playing time since his return
Gnabry has had little playing time since his return. Before the extended international break, he played 13 minutes against Union Berlin (7-0), even though the match had been decided early. Last weekend in Augsburg (2-2), he got 23 minutes. The Germany international produced one or two dangerous moments after coming on and came close to a winner. He had a goal ruled out for offside and hit the post.
In Germany colours, Gnabry had a bigger role. Coach Jürgen Klopp included him as one of the few DFB stars in both squads. He came off the bench in each of the first two matches, then started the 2-0 win against Serbia and wore the captain's armband. Gnabry only left before the return fixture in Greece for workload management reasons.
Kompany currently sees Gnabry as a challenger, hardly surprising given his serious injury. Before that, though, Gnabry had been one of the key performers in the previous season. In 37 competitive matches, he contributed ten goals and eleven assists and was at times an undisputed regular during Jamal Musiala's long absence. He could regain that status in the coming weeks.