Robben Out Of Ajax Clash, Bayern Boss Urges Coman To End Quit Talk

MUNICH, Germany- Veteran Dutch winger Arjen Robben will play no part in Bayern Munich's Champions League clash at Ajax due to an ongoing knee injury, the Bundesliga giants said Tuesday.

Robben, 34, has been out injured since scoring twice in a 5-1 win over group rivals Benfica last month and has yet to fully recover.

Robben, who scored Bayern's winning goal against Dortmund in the 2013 Champions League final, confirmed in Monday's edition of magazine Kicker that he will quit the Bavarian giants at the end of the season.

Bayern, who sit top of Group E on 13 points, need just a point at Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday to qualify for the last 16 as group winners.

With a two-point deficit to Bayern, a win for Ajax would see the Dutch giants finish top of the group.

As well as Robben, injured midfielders Corentin Tolisso and James Rodriguez have also been left off Niko Kovac's match day squad.

Focused return

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has told Kingsley Coman to stop all talk of retiring from "aggressive" modern-day football and focus on returning to the fray with his morale intact.

Injury-plagued Coman, who has started only three Champions League games for Bayern since joining the club in 2016, said in a recent television interview that back-to-back injuries had left him pondering his future in the game.

Rummenigge, speaking before Bayern's trip to Amsterdam where they will face Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday, said it was unthinkable for the 22-year-old Frenchman to be considering quitting.

"I would advise him not to get carried away and to stop thinking about ending his career," said Rummenigge.

"In today's football, which is very quick and sometimes very aggressive, you just can't avoid suffering injury now and again.

"The important thing is to return to competition with your morale intact."

Coman, who came through Paris Saint-Germain's training academy before joining Juventus in 2014, told Sunday's Telefoot programme he would consider his future in football if he suffered another major injury.

In the past year he has suffered two ankle ligament injuries, in February then August.

The first meant he missed possible selection to France's squad for a World Cup campaign in which Les Bleus triumphed.

Coman only returned from his latest injury on December 1, joining Bayern's squad for Wednesday's clash in Amsterdam where the Germans need just a point to secure top spot in Group E.

Rummenigge, the CEO of Bayern, added: "Everyone is behind him.

"We know how good a player he is, he's an important player and will be even more so in the future."