Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Michael Ballack will be out of action for up to six weeks after suffering a fractured tibia during his side’s 2-2 draw versus Hanover 96 in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

The 33-year-old has undergone a series of medical tests and the club had been hopeful that Ballack hade merely suffered a hyperextension of his ligaments, but the full extent of the injury has now been confirmed, and the former Chelsea man now faces a period of rehabilitation.

The blow means coach Jupp Heynckes will be without Ballack for a number of crucial Bundesliga and Europa League matches, and also casts doubt over his participation in the German national team.

Ballack will almost certainly miss the Euro 2012 qualifying clashes with Turkey and Kazakhstan at the beginning of October, meaning he will be unable to regain the captaincy for die Mannschaft, that coach Joachim Loew had promised to return to him when he regained full fitness.

Ballack remains marooned on 98 caps after missing the World Cup finals due to an ankle injury, and not securing a recall for the recent defeats of Azerbaijan and Belgium.