Dirty TackleDTotD: Mario Mandzukic lunges at Bastian Schweinsteiger in Bayern Munich training
Bayern Munich held an open training session on Wednesday, at which 1,500 fans were privy to the practise drills and warm-ups that can put a team 19 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
The fans in attendance also bore witness to the kind of crunching tackle that probably shouldn't be practised in training. During a passing drill, Mario Mandzukic got a little feisty in his attempt to dispossess Bastian Schweinsteiger with a two-footed lunge that landed nowhere near the ball.
Schweini was left in a heap on the ground, clutching the left ankle that had just had an encounter with two sets of studs. Die Roten’s assistant coach Hermann Gerland immediately came over to call the physios, who proceeded to stuff ice down his sock.
Fortunately, the injury was not too serious: even though he was limping afterwards, Bild report that Schweinsteiger was practising free kicks at the end of the session. The rash challenge also managed to avoid damage with his right ankle, upon which he recently had surgery.
Mandzukic later apologised for the incident, but fans of other Bundesliga clubs desperate to make up some ground on the Bavarians will be willing him to go in a little harder next time.
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
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