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Boateng misses Leverkusen, should face Real

Injured defender Jerome Boateng will miss Saturday's Bundesliga match at Bayer Leverkusen, but his club Bayern Munich hope he will be fit for their crunch Champions League clash at Real Madrid.

Bayern Munich’s defender Jerome Boateng and Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo vie for the ball during the UEFA Champions League 1st leg quarter-final football match FC Bayern Munich v Real Madrid in Munich, southen Germany on April 12, 2017. LLUIS GENE / AFP

Injured defender Jerome Boateng will miss Saturday’s Bundesliga match at Bayer Leverkusen, but his club Bayern Munich hope he will be fit for their crunch Champions League clash at Real Madrid.

“Boateng has a small groin problem, but we think he will be ready to play against Madrid,” Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Saturday.

Alongside Boateng, Bayern are also hoping top-scorer Robert Lewandowski, who has a bruised shoulder, and defender Mats Hummels, with an injured ankle, will be fit for the Tuesday’s key quarter-final second leg.

Bayern need their star trio fit after losing 2-1 to Real in the first leg in Munich last Wednesday, when Cristiano Ronaldo netted twice to reach the milestone of 100 European goals.

Lewandowski, on 38 goals this season, missed the Real defeat due to a shoulder injury and the Bavarian giants are facing a race against time to get him fit for the return leg.

Before this weekend’s league fixtures kicked-off, Bayern were 10 points clear with five games left and on course for a fifth-straight title.

Even if he’d been fit, Lewandowski would have missed the Leverkusen match as he is suspended having picked up five yellow cards.

With centre-backs Hummels and Boateng both missing the Leverkusen match, Ancelotti has promoted defensive midfielder Nicolas Feldhahn from the reserve team to travel with the first-team squad.

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