Bierofka adds to Leverkusen woes

Bayer 04 Leverkusen expect to be without German international midfield player Daniel Bierofka for the rest of the UEFA Champions League second group stage after he fractured a rib in training.

Training-ground injury
The 24-year-old suffered the injury in the final training session before Leverkusen's 3-1 Champions League home defeat by Newcastle United FC last night. "He fell on the foot of Christoph Preuss and is going to be sidelined for four or five weeks," said Leverkusen's new coach, Thomas Hörster.

Bottom of Group A
After losing their opening three Group A matches, Leverkusen lie bottom of their group and Bierofka will probably miss their remaining three ties, away to Newcastle and FC Barcelona and at home against Internazionale FC.

Relegation fight
Besides likely elimination from Europe, last season's 1. Bundesliga and Champions League runners-up face a fight against relegation in Germany, where they have dropped into the bottom three.

German international
Bierofka joined Leverkusen last summer after spells with TSV 1860 München, FC Bayern München, SpVgg Unterhaching and SpVgg Feldmoching. Capped three times by Germany, he has appeared four times in this season's Champions League.