Germany : Bundesliga injured & suspended list (with statistics)

Striker Patrick Helmes is set to miss the opening months of next season after suffering a serious knee injury while on holiday. The 25-year-old, Bayer Leverkusen's top scorer with 21 goals in the season that just ended, tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee and underwent surgery to correct the problem. Helmes will also miss Germany's World Cup qualifiers in the late summer and autumn.

Bayer Leverkusen's striker Patrick Helmes has torn ligaments in his right knee and will be sidelined for months. The 25-year-old was injured while playing sports on vacation, the club said Friday, without giving details. Helmes underwent an operation Friday. Helmes started all 34 Bundesliga games last season and scored a team-best 21 goals.

Werder Bremen have mounting injury problems ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Cup final against Shakhtar Donetsk. Coach Thomas Schaaf will definitely be without influential playmaker Diego and striker Hugo Almeida, who are suspended, while defender Per Mertesacker is injured and will not play. Captain Frank Baumann is battling to shake off a muscle strain, as is Brazilian defender Naldo. Strikers Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg also missed last weekend'd defeat by Karlsruhe after picking up injuries.

Werder Bremen will be without forwards Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg for Saturday's Bundesliga home game against Karlsruher. Coach Thomas Schaaf said: "Claudio Pizarro took a blow to the foot during the game against Eintracht Frankfurt which is causing him problems and Markus Rosenberg got a knock on the ankle which is preventing him from being able to run properly with the result that neither of them will be able to play against Karlsruhe."

Hamit Altintop will not play in Bayern's two remaining games this season - against Hoffenheim on Saturday and Stuttgart next weekend. The Turkey midfielder suffered a calf muscle strain in the warm-up prior to Tuesday's 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen and is facing at least two weeks on the sidelines.

Kevin-Prince Boateng was punished with a four-match ban after appearing to kick Wolsfburg's Makoto Hasebe during his side's 3-0 defeat on Tuesday. He will now miss Dortmund's two remaining fixtures - against Arminia Bielefeld and Borussia Moenchengladbach. The 22-year-old midfielder is currently on loan at the Westfalenstadion from Tottenham Hotspur in a deal which will end in the summer.

Werder centre-back Per Mertesacker is a major doubt for the UEFA Cup final against Shakhtar Donetsk on 20 May after tearing ligaments in his right ankle during the semi-final victory against HSV. "We'll have to be patient," said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf. "We hope that Per will make a return before the end of the season." The news is a further blow to the Bundesliga club, who will also be without Brazilian playmaker Diego and forward Hugo Almeida for the final because of suspension.

Werder Bremen have several injury concerns ahead of Thursday's UEFA Cup semi-final first leg against Hamburger. Peter Niemeyer is listed as questionable with a thigh injury, while his midfield teammate Frank Baumann has a similar problem. Meanwhile, defender Petri Pasanen had to undergo an operation to remove the nail on the big toe of his right foot. Midfielders Aaron Hunt, with an ankle knock, and Daniel Jensen, following an achilles tendon operation, joined Pasanen in sitting out training on Monday.

Defender Leandro Cufre will miss the rest of the season after has damaging ligaments in his right knee. The Argentine international, who is on loan from Monaco, was hurt in Hertha Berlin 's 1-0 win at Hoffenheim. The injury makes it unlikely that Hertha will use an option to give Cufre a permanent contract. He has played sparingly since arriving in midseason.

Mladen Petric will be sidelined for two to three weeks after sustaining a deep cut to his shin that required eight stitches to close. The 28-year-old Croatia striker was hurt during Wednesday's German Cup semifinal against Werder Bremen, which Werder won on penalties. Petric, the team's top scorer this season, could also miss both legs of Hamburger's UEFA Cup semi-final against Werder.

Andriy Voronin has been banned for three games for receiving a red card in last weekend's Bundesliga defeat to Hannover. The Ukraine striker was sent off for kicking out at Hannover midfielder Leon Andreasen during Hertha Berlin's 2-0 away reverse. Voronin, who is on loan from Liverpool, will miss important games against Werder Bremen, Hoffenheim and Hamburger. He is the team's top scorer this season with 11 goals.

Defenders Guy Demel and Collin Benjamin have been left out of the Hamburger squad to face Manchester City in Thursday's UEFA Cup match. Benjamin will miss the quarter-final decider with a thigh muscle problem, while Demel has been sidelined for four weeks with a similar problem and any hopes of his making a prompt return have also been dashed. Another defender, Alex Silva, remains a doubt as he recovers from a torn thigh muscle.