Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery returns to training on Friday and has "a chance" of playing against Arsenal in the Champions League next week, Carlo Ancelotti said at his news conference ahead of the Bavarian derby in Ingolstadt.
Ancelotti confirmed that he had almost a full squad at his disposal for the Bundesliga trip to neighbours Ingolstadt on Saturday, with only Ribery and Jerome Boateng unavailable for selection.
Ribery, 33, suffered a thigh injury in training at the end of January and was originally expected to be ruled out for up to two weeks.
However, Ancelotti hinted there was hope that he could be fit to line up against the Gunners at the Allianz Arena in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on Wednesday.
"Ribery begins individual training today and we are doing everything to get him ready for Arsenal," he said. "But it's difficult. He has a chance to play against Arsenal, but we'll take no risks. When he's ready he will be back with us."
Ancelotti also added he had spoken to captain Philipp Lahm following his announcement that he will retire at the end of the season.
"I'm unhappy about this," Ancelotti said. "But it's his decision and we must respect that. He's a great professional and he'll stay one until his final game."
Asked about Bayern's ability to fill the void that Lahm will leave, he said: "It's difficult to find a right-back like Lahm. But that's a problem for next season, not this."
Ancelotti added that he could not convince Lahm to alter his decision to retire a year ahead of schedule.
"I said he should continue when we spoke, but he said he wanted to give 100 percent, not just 90 percent," Ancelotti said.