INTERNATIONAL: Bayern player Leroy Sane on Monday has weighed in on the vaccine saga plaguing the Munich club. He says he was 'vaccinated himself' and 'stood for it' but that he respected his team mates' choices. The German Champions say that four more Bayern Munich players went into quarantine after coming into contact with a COVID-19 infected person on Sunday.

Sane says, "Yes, of course, at the end of the day I am for it and am one of those who are vaccinated. I stand for it, too and I have talked about it: at the end of the day, I actually want them to be in the squad, to be on the pitch with us and to be able to help us. These are important games; they are good players for us. No matter who is still missing from the others, we as a team would like to have them with us, of course. That is out of the question. But in the end, of course, I respect their decision."

The Bavarians, who suffered a 2-1 shock loss to Augsburg on Friday and play Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League on Tuesday, will be without Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Michael Cuisance. Bayern are already assured of progressing to the next stage of the Champions League. Bayern were without defender Niklas Suele until a few days ago after he tested positive, while fellow defender Josip Stanisic and a staff member went into quarantine earlier this week. Midfielder Joshua Kimmich is also in isolation for the second straight week following contact with an infected person. Kimmich has publicly refused to get vaccinated. He says, he has concerns over the potential long-term effects.

Trainer Julian Nagelsmann responded to news reports in German media that unvaccinated players would get their pay docked if they needed to quarantine, saying that he was not happy about the leak. He says, "But, as I said, we don't have this pressure on the result that you always have as Bayern Munich in every game and we can basically also do the things that we maybe didn't do well in Augsburg or in the weeks before. We can also implement the individual things that didn't work so well and simply take the steps. Of course, with slightly different personnel, but we still have a very good team on the pitch. Despite eight absentees, you have to be honest. Of course, we no longer have these mega offensive alternatives on the bench, because a few of them have already dropped out. Now they're out. But it's not as if we're now arriving with some terrible team, but still a very good team."

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF BAYERN MUNICH TRAINING / BAYERN MUNICH TRAINER JULIAN NAGELSMANN SPEAKING / BAYERN MUNICH PLAYER LEROY SANE SPEAKING}