Alphonso Davies exits Bayern Munich match with leg injury

Bayern Munich midfielder and Canadian men's national team star Alphonso Davies exited Saturday's loss at Mainz with a leg injury.

The 22-year-old left back from Edmonton pulled up in the ninth minute of a 3-1 defeat, clutching his leg and asking for a substitution.

Bayern Munich revealed on Sunday that Davies "sustained a muscle bundle injury" in the back of his left thigh.

Davies has three goals and 11 points in 40 matches this season with Bayern.

In December, Davies was named Canada Soccer player of the year for the fourth time in five seasons.

He was instrumental in helping the men's team qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, and scored the squad's first-ever goal at soccer's showcase event in Qatar.

WATCH | Davies leaves match with injury:

Davies also helped Bayern win the 2021-22 Bundesliga and 2022 DFL Supercup in Germany and became the all-time Canadian leader in UEFA Champions League appearances.

Davies was the lone Canadian attacker to play every minute at the World Cup and he scored the opening goal 67 seconds into Canada's match against the eventual bronze medal winner Croatia.

Borussia Dortmund seized its chance as the Bundesliga got a new leader on Saturday.

Squandered lead

Donyell Malen scored twice in Dortmund's 4-0 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt as the "black and yellows" capitalized on Bayern's defeat to move one point above the defending champion with five rounds remaining.

"The table looks very well now," Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said with a smile.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel endured a disappointing return to his former club Mainz where his team squandered the lead and lost 3-1.

Sadio Mane scored and Bayern looked set to stretch its league lead to five points ahead of the late game. Mane headed in João Cancelo's cross at the far post in the 29th minute.

But Mainz improved after the break and Ludovic Ajorque equalized in the 65th when Bayern's defence was unable to clear the ball after a free kick. Leandro Barreiro scored the home team's second in the 73rd, and six minutes later Spanish left back Aaron Martin marked his 26th birthday by scoring Mainz's third.

Bayern's loss increases the pressure on chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić. They were already under scrutiny for their decision to fire coach Julian Nagelsmann before decisive games last month. Bayern has since crashed out of the Champions League and German Cup, and Nagelsmann's replacement, Tuchel, has just two wins from seven games across all competitions.

"A defeat is always a brutal disappointment and an extreme discrepancy between expectation and reality for us," Bayern veteran Thomas Muller said. "In the current situation, it's even harder to bear."

David goal not enough at Auxerre

Jonathan David's 21st goal of the season wasn't enough for Lille as it drew at Auxerre 1-1 in the French league on Saturday in Paris.

The Ottawa striker hit the post twice before putting Lille ahead from the penalty spot in the 36th minute after a handball confirmed by video review.

The goal moved David one behind Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, who scored both of PSG's goals in a 2-1 win at bottom side Angers on Friday.

But Auxerre striker M'Baye Niang's penalty in the 62nd gave 14th-placed Auxerre a point toward safety.

Later Saturday, Lens was looking to move above Marseille and into second place with a home win over fourth-placed Monaco.

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