Werder Bremen's Pizarro misses Bayern trip with groin injury

Berlin - Claudio Pizarro will miss out on a return to the Allianz Arena, after the veteran Werder Bremen striker suffered a groin injury ahead of Saturday's match against Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

"This is obviously a bad shock," lamented Bremen coach Viktor Skrypnyk, with his side still in relegation danger despite consecutive 4-1 victories over Bayer Leverkusen and bottom club Hanover 96.

The 37-year-old Pizarro is Bremen's top scorer this season with 13 goals, and his injury blow comes after hitting a rich vein of form with 10 goals since the winter break.

The Peruvian is in his fourth spell at the Weserstadion, and played for Bayern from 2001-2007 and from 2012-15, scoring 125 goals for the Bavarian giants.

He left Pep Guardiola's side on a free transfer last summer, but now his highly-anticipated return has failed to materialise.

Bayern manager Guardiola had said in the build-up to the game that Pizarro was "one of the best centre-forwards I have seen and coached in my career".

Pizarro first moved to Germany in 1999 and is the highest foreign goalscorer in Bundesliga history, having netted 187 times in 405 outings.