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Ribery's rehab at Bayern gets space-age help

Bayern Munich's French midfielder Franck Ribery's return to the Bayern Munich squad is drawing closer

Franck Ribery's return to the Bayern Munich squad is drawing closer, thanks to some space-age help with the injured French winger working out on a running machine developed by NASA. Ribery has been out for the last seven months since limping out of a Champions League match in March, but the injury to his right ankle is proving to be persistent. The Bayern star is using a special anti-gravity running machine, the type developed by NASA to train astronauts, which supports 20 percent of his body weight, according to broadcaster Sport1. The 32-year-old has missed the last 28 matches for the Bavarian giants, who have won all eight of their league games so far this season, including a 5-1 rout of second-placed Borussia Dortmund on Sunday and are four points clear in the table. Bayern coach Pep Guardiola has also been without Netherlands captain Arjen Robben, who has a groin injury, and the Spaniard is hoping to have his veteran wingers back training before their next league game at Werder Bremen on October 17. "With regards to Arjen, I hope he can rejoin (training) after the international break. With regards to Franck, I hope he'll also be back soon," said Guardiola. In Ribery and Robben's absence, Brazil winger Douglas Costa and France Under-21 international Kingsley Coman are shoo-ins on the flanks for Bayern.