In November, Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich was felled by an ankle injury during the international break.
While the 31-year-old has had some good games since then, he has not looked the same as he did before the injury. In particular, Kimmich seems to be a step slower and a little less agile than before. The past two games, in particular, Kimmich has made mistakes that you would almost never see a player at his level make.
Something looks off, yet we have not seen anyone question if the midfielder
is back at full strength or still dealing with the lingering effects of that injury. With Kimmich not really taking any downtime to deal with the ailment, the possibility of him still being hurt or affected exists.
Speaking to Absolute Fussball (as captured by Tz), Markus Babbel touched on Kimmich’s dipping form, but became the latest media member or pundit to blow by the injury.
“I can’t believe that this should be a cause for concern. I’ve said the same thing about Said El Mala. You can’t be at 100 percent in every single game – that’s impossible,” said Babbel. “To be honest, I was almost a little glad that Bayern lost a game, because I saw that Joshua Kimmich is not at 100 percent at the moment. I had thought they were machines.
“Top performance in every single game, technically and tactically almost perfect for the first three or four months. I really thought they were machines and not normal people. Now I see: They are perfectly normal. They are not machines – and that’s a good thing.”
As for his status with the German national team, Babbel insists Kimmich is not in any danger of losing his starting gig.
“There are still many weeks and months until the World Cup, so he’ll find his way back to his best form. He just needs a few positive moments, and we’ll see how quickly he’s back to his top level. He’s exactly the type of player for that,” Babbel remarked.
Kimmich has been a lightning rod for Bayern Munich fans to discuss of late, as there is a strong camp of people who are vocal about his poor form at times since November. For those who already had an issue with Kimmich, this has become their “told you so” moment.
Maybe this writer is crazy, but Kimmich has not looked like himself since November and has barely taken any time off to truly deal with whatever was (or is) going on with his ankle. Even during a stretch that included St. Pauli (3-1), Union Berlin (2-2), VfB Stuttgart (5-0), Sporting CP (3-1), Mainz (2-2), Heidenheim (4-0), the Winterpause, Wolfsburg (8-1), and FC Köln (3-1) that extended from November 29th, 2025 through January 14th, 2026, Kimmich only sat out against Heidenheim (weeks after he first sustained the injury), Wolfsburg, and FC Köln. From there, Kimmich played limited minutes vs. RB Leipzig (45’) and FC Augsburg (29’) before diving back in head-first to play every single minute of every game except when he played 76 minutes against Werder Bremen on February 14th (where he really struggled).
Whether it is the ankle or the workload, Kimmich has not looked like himself and needs to rest. Even during this February stretch that has included no Champions League games, Kimmich has played the whole game against Hoffenheim (February 8th) and Eintracht Frankfurt (February 21st), plus a full 90 minutes against RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal on February 11th.
Somehow, though, no one is asking why he has scuffled or if he is fully back from that ankle injury…and that might even be a bigger mystery than what could be ailing the star midfielder.
Song of the Week: “Here it goes again” by OK GO
You might have noticed my recent listening has ventured back into the early aughts. This is a forgotten gem that was really only heard on some alt rock stations and some adult contemporary-type stations at the time.
It’s still a solid little song that has a raw, poppy sound that captures what was going on in that era. Released in 2006, this song gained a lot of acclaim for the video, which — you will see — is pretty cool. Enjoy:
Entertainment Rundown
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
The first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is being universally lauded, which is not easy to do in this day and age of rage-baiting and hating. It was a great show and now it is time for us to break down the season finale. Here we go with our bullet-style review:
- The episode was solely based on the fallout from the previous episode and did a fantastic job of setting the tone for, well, everything. We got a deeper dive into the main characters, we saw the seeds sewn for unrest that eventually weaves into Robert’s Rebellion (people were already sick of the bleep from the Targaryens), and we got a defined pathway forward while also achieving closure on this season.
- The show followed the proven HBO format — put the groundbreaking events and action in the penultimate episode, while using the finale to tie up loose ends and set up the next season. It’s a winning formula.
- Peter Claffey, who plays Dunk, was just tremendous. Whether it is intentional or not, he plays Dunk in a way that not only makes him an endearing figure to other characters, but also to the audience. Everybody (except Aerion) just seems to like him. In addition, the chemistry between Dunk and Egg is just fantastic. You can’t force it — even as actors — to make an on-screen relationship (either platonic and romantic in acting) work. For Dunk and Egg, you could view their onscreen work and have a hard time thinking these two have not been acting together for years.
- The conversation between Prince Maekar and Dunk about the guilt that each will share over the events of the Trial of the Seven and the death of Prince Baelor was so good. The pain for both men just bled off the screen. Similarly, when they spoke the second time, you can see that Maekar realizes that Egg might be his only hope for a “good son” and is pained at the thought of letting him leave. Dunk’s refusal to take Maekar’s offer to train at Summerhall also showed how deep that pain cut into him. He just wanted to go back to being a hedge knight.
- The ambiguity of whether or not Ser Arlan actually knighted Dunk will probably be an ongoing theme.
- I’m very eager to see what book readers think of the twist ending where we find out Maekar did not actually send Egg to go off with Dunk.
- Overall, this was a strong ending to a great season. For all of the damage that House of the Dragon did to the Game of Thrones brand, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms bought back some support.
Episode Rating: 8.75/10.00
Season Rating: 9.25/10.00
This is what we know about next season:
Details on ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ S2 ⚔️
- Now in production
- Will be 6 episodes — ranging between 30 and 60 min
- Adapting ‘The Sworn Sword’
- Dunk & Egg will go to Dorne
- Show will stay in Dunk’s POV
- GRRM is heavily involved and visited the set
- Explores the theme of ‘loyalty and maybe against blind loyalty’
- Westeros is in a drought
- Releasing in 2027
Heat 2
Well, it looks like the rumored Heat sequel is happening. Man, I hope this is good:
Predictions
It is hard to say exactly which version of Borussia Dortmund will show up for Der Klassiker.
Before its shocking dismantling at the hands of Atalanta in the Champions League earlier this week, BVB was riding high and looking tough and resilient. Now, the ghosts of Borussia Dortmund’s past could be haunting the squad.
As for Bayern Munich, the squad is banged up. At this point, there are half a dozen players who might or might not be available (and maybe some who are playing through injuries, but should not be). Even with that, Bayern Munich is still better.
It is just too hard to go against the Bavarians, even on the road given what we saw from Dortmund earlier in the week.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Bayern Munich
Other Bundesliga matches:
- FC Augsburg 1-2 FC Köln
- Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Mainz 05
- Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 Union Berlin
- Hoffenheim 2-0 St. Pauli
- Werder Bremen 1-1 Heidenheim
- VfB Stuttgart 2-1 VfL Wolfsburg
- Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 SC Freiburg
- Hamburger SV 1-3 RB Leipzig
Prediction Records
- Total: 402-237
- Perfect Picks: 38
- Bundesliga Last Matchday: 3-6
- Bundesliga Overall: 121-87
- DFB-Pokal: 49-11
- World Cup Qualifiers/Friendlies: 99-45
- Champions League: 89-71
- Club World Cup: 39-23
- Club Friendlies: 4-0
- Franz Beckenbauer Supercup: 1-0
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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