Ribery’s ban is Bayern’s gain, says van Gaal

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal said Friday Franck Ribery’s three-match ban for the France team is good news for the German giants.

Ribery is banned for both of France’s Euro 2012 qualifiers against Belarus on September 3, Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 7 and Romania on October 9, which means he is free to focus on his fitness and train at Bayern.

Ribery was suspended by the French Football Federation for three games on August 17 for his role in the France team’s strike at the World Cup after Nicolas Anelka was sent home.

“It’s fantastic for us,” joked Van Gaal on the Bild website.

“He will be able to continue his preparations and train hard. It’s all very good for Franck.”

With Bayern’s Germany stars away with the national side for qualifiers against Belgium on September 4 and Azerbaijan on September 7, Ribery will train with the reserves in Munich and work on his fitness.

After returning from the World Cup in late June, Ribery picked up a groin strain in South Africa and was not able to train with Bayern until the end of June.

In their Champions League pool, Bayern Munich have drawn Basel, Roma and CFR Cluj in Group E with their first game against Roma in Munich on September 15.

Ribery’s first game back in the France team is likely to be against Luxembourg on October 12 in Metz for a Euro 2012 qualifier.

Bayern taken on Kaiserslautern on Friday night in their second game of the new Bundesliga season having beaten Wolfsburg 2-1 last Friday.