Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to miss the rest of Manchester United's season with a knee ligament tear and faces a race against time to be fit for his country's European Championship campaign in France.

Germany coach Joachim Low revealed on Wednesday that he would miss friendly matches against England on Saturday and Italy next Tuesday after damaging a ligament in his right knee, but according to reports coming out of Germany, the former Bayern Munich player is facing a lengthy period on the sidelines.

The Manchester United midfielder, who has only just returned to action following two months out, picked up a knee injury in a session with Joachim Low’s squad and travelled to Munich to undergo an MRI scan which has apparently revealed a partial tear to a medial ligament in his right knee.

The diagnosis for such a tear is six or more weeks out. Such an absence would see the player missing until early or mid-May, but it depends upon the severity of the injury.

"He was injured at the end of training without any other involvement, while playing a pass," manager Loew told reporters. "It is likely to be the ligament which he had injured a few weeks ago (at Manchester United).

"He is being checked out in Munich at the moment so I am not able to give an exact diagnosis.

"We will discuss it this afternoon. It does not look very positive. Maybe it is partially torn. Obviously he will miss both matches."

Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to miss the rest of Manchester United's season with a knee ligament tear and faces a race against time to be fit for his country's European Championship campaign in France.

Germany coach Joachim Low revealed on Wednesday that he would miss friendly matches against England on Saturday and Italy next Tuesday after damaging a ligament in his right knee, but according to reports coming out of Germany, the former Bayern Munich player is facing a lengthy period on the sidelines.

The Manchester United midfielder, who has only just returned to action following two months out, picked up a knee injury in a session with Joachim Low’s squad and travelled to Munich to undergo an MRI scan which has apparently revealed a partial tear to a medial ligament in his right knee.

The diagnosis for such a tear is six or more weeks out. Such an absence would see the player missing until early or mid-May, but it depends upon the severity of the injury.

"He was injured at the end of training without any other involvement, while playing a pass," manager Loew told reporters. "It is likely to be the ligament which he had injured a few weeks ago (at Manchester United).

"He is being checked out in Munich at the moment so I am not able to give an exact diagnosis.

"We will discuss it this afternoon. It does not look very positive. Maybe it is partially torn. Obviously he will miss both matches."

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil missed training after picking up a blow to his left ankle in Arsenal's match with Everton, but his problem is thought to be less serious and he should be available to face England.

A statement from the DFB explained: "The training of the national team this morning in Berlin, the penultimate before the internationals against England on Saturday in Berlin and Italy on Tuesday in Munich, was missing Bastian Schweinsteiger of Manchester United, Mesut Ozil from Arsenal and Karim Bellarabi of Bayer Leverkusen.

"World Champion Schweinsteiger was injured at the end of the session on Tuesday afternoon on his right knee. For further investigation, the captain will now undergo an MRI examination with national team physician Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt in Munich.”

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