Nurnberg's hopes of avoiding the drop suffered a blow today when it was confirmed that central defender Breno, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, will miss the rest of the season due to injury.

The young Brazilian suffered knee ligament damage in yesterday's surprise 3-2 defeat of title challenger's Bayer Leverkusen and tests today have revealed the extent of the damage. Breno will fly out to the United States where he will be operated on by renowned knee surgeon Dr Richard Steadman before returning to parent club Bayern Munich.

Nurnberg's surprise win over Leverkusen, their first loss of the entire season, lifted the underdogs into 15th position on the Bundesliga table, just one place above the relegation play-off spot.