David Alaba Escapes Ligament Damage Following Heavy Challenge During Bayern Super Cup Win

David Alaba has escaped what was suspected knee ligament damage during Bayern Munich's 5-0 German Super Cup win over Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend, with the

David Alaba has escaped what was suspected knee ligament damage during Bayern Munich's 5-0 German Super Cup win over Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend, with the club confirming on Monday he suffered only heavy bruising. 

The Bavarians started their campaign in the best possible style, with a Robert Lewandowski hat-trick and a goal from Kingsley Coman putting the reigning league champions out of sight, before the Austria international tangled with Danny da Costa and was subsequently forced off the pitch following lengthy treatment. 

Kovač: "David is in big pain. He is very sad, we had to comfort him"
Salihamidzić: "I don't want to think about an ACL injury. We have to wait"
There are big fears that Alaba's knee injury could be very serious [Bild] pic.twitter.com/3Mi4xEN6Sp

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) August 12, 2018

After the victory, there were concerns that the defender's injury would see him sidelined for around six weeks - with it thought ligament damage was the most likely diagnosis. 

However, in a statement released on Bayern's official website, the club ruled out such an injury and revealed Alaba had sustained only heavy bruising. 

Injury Update: @David_Alaba suffered a badly bruised knee in last night's #Supercup win, and has not sustained any ligament damage 🙏#MiaSanMia #ComeBackStronger 💪 pic.twitter.com/125po2w2x0

— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) August 13, 2018

"David Alaba has suffered a severe contusion of the left knee joint on Sunday evening in the Supercup victory of FC Bayern in DFB Cup winner Eintracht Frankfurt," the statement read. "A ligament injury could be excluded.

"The joint is now immobilised and checked and treated daily by the medical department of the German record champions. 

David Alaba with a bandaged left knee after the game. pic.twitter.com/a289KCu9Zy

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) August 12, 2018

"When Alaba can start again in the training operation, should be decided depending on the healing process from day to day."

Despite no specific date labelled as to when Alaba will begin training again, it is thought the Austrian will be unavailable for a matter of days rather than the aforementioned six weeks speculated. 

All in for the first title of the season 👊🏾🔴 #SGEFCB #Supercup #packmas pic.twitter.com/r3ZQZAOurg

— David Alaba (@David_Alaba) August 12, 2018

Whether the Allianz Arena favourite will return ahead of Bayern's first Bundesliga outing against Hoffenheim, however, remains to be seen - with both a friendly against Hamburg and the first round of the DFB-Pokal scheduled before their league curtain-raiser on August 24.