Franck Ribery is paying the price for playing on with an injury on his return from an eight-month lay-off, Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has revealed.
The Frenchman ended a lengthy spell on the sidelines by scoring in a 3-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in December.
A few days later he started Bayern's Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb, only to be withdrawn at half-time. The 32-year-old has not appeared since.
"I spoke to Franck after the press conference before the Monchengladbach game and asked him how he felt, and he said he was feeling top and wanted to fly with the team," Guardiola said.
"I then asked him how he felt for Zagreb and whether he preferred to start or come on in the second half.
"We were already through to the next round anyway, but the match practice would have done him good to get into a rhythm.
"I told him if he started and had any problems, we could take him off at any time, no matter how early it was.
"Franck is a warrior with great enthusiasm and a big heart. He had felt something after eight minutes, but he still wanted to carry on playing."
In doing so Ribery aggravated his long-standing muscle injury and is still sidelined, although he did return to light training earlier this week.