Knee operation

Team goalkeeper Alexander Schlager out for the season

Salzburg goalkeeper Alexander Schlager suffered an injury in the warm-up for the Bundesliga match against Rapid. Now the certainty: the season is over for the 28-year-old. The EURO 2024 has also been ruled out for him.

The Salzburg player will undergo surgery on his left knee in Innsbruck today, and it will only be possible to determine how long he will be out of action after the operation.

What can be said with certainty: The season is over for the 28-year-old, and the European Championship in Germany is also out of the question for him.

David Alaba, Xaver Schlager and Sasa Kalajdzic (cruciate ligament rupture in each case) have already suffered knee injuries. Numerous central defenders, including Philipp Lienhart, Kevin Danso and Maximilian Wöber, are currently not fit.

The 28-year-old Schlager earned himself a permanent goalkeeper's shirt in the ÖFB team under Ralf Rangnick, which he has also worn in Salzburg since his move from LASK 2023. He missed just two of 30 possible league matches. He also played six matches in the Champions League group stage. Timo Horn was in goal against Rapid.

Possible replacement candidates in the ÖFB goal
Patrick Pentz, Heinz Lindner, Tobias Lawal and Niklas Hedl are considered possible replacements at national team level. Pentz regularly stands between the posts for the Danish club Bröndby, Lindner most recently in mid-March for the Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise. In total, the 33-year-old has only played five competitive matches this season. Lawal (23/LASK) and Hedl (23/Rapid) have little international experience.