Bayern Munich expect Vincent Kompany to be absent for “weeks, not days” following his collapse at the club’s training ground on Friday.
Kompany was taken to hospital after falling ill during team training, having been unwell with a viral infection during the week.
Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl told a press conference on Saturday that Kompany remains in a “stable” condition in hospital.
Despite his illness, the former Manchester City and Belgium captain was on the touchline for Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
And Eberl said Bayern would now need to look to “protect” their head coach and will be given as much time as he needs to recover.
“We’re not starting to put together any timeframes,” Eberl said ahead of Sunday’s game against Freiburg.
“We need to firstly figure out what it is and then we’ll discuss calmly what recovery time is to be.
“We won’t be talking about days, but weeks. We need to all be clear on that.”
Kompany’s assistant coach, the Englishman Aaron Danks, will take charge of Bayern’s Bundesliga match against Freiburg.
Danks said he had spoken to Kompany but had not discussed this weekend’s match as the priority was his recovery from the virus.
“I explained to him that we wouldn’t be having no football conversations,” Danks said. “It was just checking in on his health and making sure he’s OK.
“All the football operations are in our hands and we’ll work together as a team to keep the club moving forward.”
Kompany had admitted following the draw with the Gunners that he had not listened to his body by taking time off work.
“I caught a pretty nasty virus last week, and of course I didn’t listen to my body,” Kompany said on Wednesday.
“And then at some point my body just said: ‘Enough is enough.”