VfL Bochum will have to do without attacker Takuma Asano for several weeks. The Japanese player injured his knee in the 3-1 defeat at Schalke.

VfL Bochum has to cope with the next bad news: Takuma Asano is now also out. As the club announced on Tuesday, the Japanese player suffered a torn inner ligament in his right knee during the 1:3 defeat in the tram derby at Schalke 04 last Saturday. The injury will be treated conservatively and Asano will “not be available to VfL for several weeks”.

The 27-year-old has been in the starting eleven in all six Bundesliga games this season. At Schalke, he had to be substituted in the fourth minute. Last season, the flexible attacker was one of the absolute top performers with three goals and four assists in 27 appearances.

Asano is the next week-long absentee that the Bochum side will have to cope with for the next few weeks. Defender Dominique Heintz, on loan from Union Berlin, full-back Konstantinos Stafylidis (muscular problems) and midfielder Jacek Goralski (muscular injury) are also currently unavailable to interim coach Heiko Butscher, who has previously excelled with the club’s U19s. In addition, there is substitute goalkeeper Paul Grave, who has been injured for a long time with a shoulder injury. At least left-back Danilo Soares celebrated his comeback in the VfL jersey last weekend.

Next Sunday, VfL Bochum will host 1. FC Köln. There, Butscher will also sit on the bench for the first time after the surprising departure of the previous successful coach Thomas Reis. After six games, the Bundesliga bottom team is still waiting for its first win.