Jamal Musiala Has Epileptic Absence Seizures, But Bayern Has Known For Over a Year

A player collapsing in the middle of a match always produces that gut-punch feeling. It happened to Jamal Musiala twice within a matter of days, and while the images unsettled everyone, teammates, opponents, fans in the stands, the explanation in Munich turned out to be less dramatic than it first appeared.

Musiala himself addressed it in a message he posted on Instagram after the latest episode, which happened Tuesday against Heidenheim: he was diagnosed with "epileptic absence seizures caused by a neurological dysfunction," but he made clear there is "no additional risk" to his health and that he intends to keep playing exactly as before.

What caught many off guard is that this wasn't news to Bayern. Sporting director Max Eberl confirmed Friday that the club has been aware of the 23-year-old's neurological condition for at least a year, and that the recent collapses were triggered by a change in his ongoing treatment, not by the sudden emergence of a new problem.

"We've been dealing with this for a whole season"

While club legend Uli Hoeness had called the situation a "drama" for the club just a day earlier, both Eberl and head coach Vincent Kompany struck a far calmer tone at the press conference. No alarm bells, more a sense of handling something they already know well.

We've been dealing with this throughout last season. We've worked through it, we've managed it, and now there's a situation where a young man suddenly finds himself confronted with this out of nowhere, something we're helping him navigate.Max Eberl

Kompany echoed that sentiment, explaining that the public exposure of an issue that had until now been kept private sparked a wave of speculation he considered understandable, given that people are only now learning about something that has long been routine inside the club.

I just spoke with Jamal. He told me: "Vinnie, it's fine, you can mention it." But he made a change to his treatment and that had some side effects. That's why it happened the first time and then the second. It's completely normal to try something different during treatment. Now we want to get back to how things were before, when nobody knew anything about this.Vincent Kompany

Eberl added something that sounds pretty logical when you think about it: anyone who takes daily medication dreams of the day they won't have to anymore, and Musiala is no different. The goal now, according to Eberl, is to readjust the medication so the player can return to the state he was in for a very long stretch without suffering any episodes.

As a precaution, Kompany left Musiala out of the squad for Saturday's German Supercup against Borussia Dortmund, though he stressed the decision was more about reducing media exposure than any real medical concern. Next week, the forward will train individually while the club's medical staff finishes calibrating the new treatment plan.

Bayern, the reigning Bundesliga champions, open their title defense on August 28 at home against Stuttgart, and everything points to the plan being for Musiala to reach that match without any setbacks and, hopefully, without the topic making headlines again.