Knee op threatens Adler's season start at Bayern

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's reserve goalkeeper Rene Adler faces a race against time to be fit for next month's start to the new Bundesliga season as he is set to go

 under the knife on Wednesday to repair knee ligaments.

The 26-year-old Bayer Leverkusen player has a problem with the patellar tendon in his right knee and has been in pain since picking up the injury in a pre-season game on July 3.

The new season starts on Friday, August 5 when German champions Borussia Dortmund host Hamburg and Leverkusen do not know how long Adler will be out for.

Having qualified for the Champions League by finishing third in the Bundesliga last season, Leverkusen kick-off their season at Mainz on August 7.

"To be able to play in the upcoming season, surgery is unfortunately inevitable," said Adler.

Adler lost his place as first-choice Germany goalkeeper, to Bayern Munich's new-signing Manuel Neuer, after suffering a rib injury which ruled him out of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"This is a hard blow for us," admitted Leverkusen's director of sport Rudi Voeller.

"We will now wait for the surgery and hope that Rene will be fit soon."

Germany play a friendly against south American giants Brazil in Stuttgart on August 10 then face a Euro 2012 qualifier against Austria in Gelsenkirchen on September 2.