Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Manuel Neuer back in Germany goal for Euro 2016 qualifier against Georgia

Manuel Neuer will be back in the Germany goal for the European Championship qualifier in Georgia on Sunday after being rested for the 2-2 friendly draw with Australia earlier this week.

Assistant coach Thomas Schneider said Bayern Munich star Neuer had returned to training on Thursday after minor injury problems.

The goalkeeper, who celebrates his 29th birthday on Friday, suffered a rare off-day as Bayern lost to Borussia Monchengladbach at the weekend, allowing a Raffael shot to squirm beneath him for the opening goal.

But Schneider told a news conference: "We all know that all of his blunders came against Gladbach. We'd like to think that he'll play a very good match at the weekend."

Captain Bastian Schweinsteiger will also return to the starting lineup after sitting out the Australia game, Schneider said. "There are no question marks over him."

However, Leverkusen's Karim Bellarabi and Bayern Munich centre-back Holger Badstuber will not make the trip to Tiflis.

The former is suffering from a cold, while the latter has muscular problems and was withdrawn at half-time against Australia. "We don't want to risk anything," Schneider said.

Germany are currently third in qualifying group D. After a win against Scotland, they only picked up a point from games against Poland and Republic of Ireland before adding another three against minnows Gibraltar.

Poland lead the standings with 10 points, while Ireland, Germany and Scotland all have seven.

But the World Cup winners remain confident that they will qualify, and Schneider said: "We are all aware that we did not pick up enough points in the autumn, and we are under a bit of pressure. Still, we won't panic. We will fly to Georgia and win it."

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