This archive report was first published on 23 August 2019.
Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac has confirmed that Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho will not start in the team's Bundesliga match against Schalke on Saturday, August 24, 2019.
Coutinho, 27, joined Bayern on a one-year loan deal from Barcelona earlier in the week and has been the talk of Germany since his arrival.
However, Kovac stated that Coutinho is not yet at the level of fitness required to play for 90 minutes, citing the fact that he has only been training with the team for two weeks.
"He is not quite at the level of fitness he needs to play for 90 minutes," Kovac said.
"He has said that himself, and we don't want to take any risks," he added.
Despite this, Kovac confirmed that Coutinho will be included in the matchday squad.
Bayern are under pressure to pick up three points against Schalke, having been held to a draw in their opening Bundesliga game against Hertha Berlin last week.
Meanwhile, Croatia winger Ivan Perisic, who joined Bayern from Inter Milan, could make his debut for the team against Schalke.
"Ivan is much further along, he started training at the same time as we did, and played several games for Inter Milan in pre-season," Kovac said.
