It's not unusual for a player to miss the amount of time Thiago Alcantara has missed and return with some rust. But it's hard to excuse the Spaniard's dangerous challenge on a Bayer Leverkusen player Wednesday.
Thiago was lucky to avoid a red card during Bayern Munich's DFB-Pokal quarterfinal win when he recklessly went into a challenge with Stefan Kiessling, forcing the Leverkusen forward to leave the game.
The Bayern midfielder went into the challenge with a flying kick that missed the ball and hit Kiessling in the chest during the final minutes of regulation before extra time was required. The match official immediately showed the player a yellow card.
(Courtesy: Best Highlights)
Thiago, who was making his second appearance after missing close to a year with knee injuries, has since apologised for the careless challenge.
"I have apologised to him 1,000 times. I talked to him when he was down on the ground, during the penalty shootout, and in the dressing room," Thiago explained to reporters.