Bundesliga / Nati: Denis Zakaria – Return after 8 months!

Good news for next year’s EM! And a welcome present for today’s 24th birthday: Nati midfielder Denis Zakaria, second most important to captain Granit Xhaka, is back on the pitch after eight long months!

In tomorrow’s Bundesliga match against Augsburg, the defender with a market value of 43.2 million francs is back in the squad.

Gladbach coach Marco Rose tells «Bild»: «There is good news, Zak will be there against Augsburg. We put him in good shape, he feels good and is pain free. Denis will not be the player we knew from day one. But that’s completely normal. It is important that he accepts it too. He will be assigned working hours over and over again in the coming weeks. We are all very happy! “

A year and two days ago, Zakaria wore the national team jersey for the last time: in the 6-1 victory in the European qualification against Gibraltar, the Genevan ran 60 minutes. He has since disappeared in the defensive midfield. Although his replacement Remo Freuler made headlines with his dream goal in the 1-1 draw against Spain last week.

It was fellow national and club Yann Sommer, of all people, who knocked out Zakaria on 7 March: in a duel in the match against Dortmund (1: 2), Sommer inadvertently lets “Zak” jump over the blade . Zakaria injured his knee.

At Gladbach, the first assumption is that the injury is not that serious. Zakaria also confidently writes on Instagram for the moment: “Nothing bad, I’ll be back soon”. But the return is always delayed. At the beginning of May he was operated under arthroscopy. A chipped bone must be removed.

But even in August, when training began in the new season, there was no trace of the ex-kid. And this, even if in reality he has planned to return to training in the team and has shortened his holidays mainly for this.

Zakaria will only be able to participate in regular team training again in mid-September. But the midfielder has to go back and forth in coach Rose’s sessions. Nothing will come of an intended use in the recent test match against second division team Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Now finally there is good news for Zakaria, Gladbach and for the national team. And that’s exactly on his 24th birthday today. Happy birthday Zak!