Florian Wirtz will miss Bayer Leverkusen's return fixture against Bayern Munich in the Champions League after being sidelined for several weeks with a ligament injury.

Xabi Alonso's team were beaten 2-0 by Werder Bremen on Saturday as they failed to take advantage of Bayern losing 3-2 to Bochum, staying eight points behind the Bundesliga leaders.

Wirtz came on as a half-time substitute as Alonso shuffled his pack for that match, only to be withdrawn soon afterwards with an ankle issue.  

The Bundesliga champions, who face a 3-0 first-leg deficit in their all-German Champions League tie, will now be without Wirtz for an undisclosed period. 

"Bayer 04 will have to manage without Florian Wirtz," the club said in a statement on Monday.

"The Germany international suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle in the home game against Werder Bremen on Saturday. 

"The 21-year-old midfielder will be out of action for several weeks."

Wirtz, who has scored nine goals and set up another 10 in the Bundesliga this season, has also netted six times in the Champions League.

He will also miss Germany's Nations League quarter-final tie against Italy, with the teams set to do battle across two legs on March 20 and March 23.

Wirtz is also unlikely to return by April 1, when DFB-Pokal holders Leverkusen face Arminia Bielefeld in the semi-finals of that competition.

"The loss of Florian obviously hits us hard in this phase of the season but we will compensate for him with a strong squad," said Simon Rolfes, Bayer's sporting director.

"We know Florian and also know he will come back as soon as possible. We are assuming he will be fully fit again for the run-in."