Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels has apologised for not addressing the fans following the club's 1-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
Dortmund suffered their ninth defeat of the season in Berlin and remain in danger of relegation from the Bundesliga, currently sitting 16th in the table.
Despite the result, travelling Dortmund fans applauded their players after the game when Jurgen Klopp led the squad to the away end of the Olympiastadion.
However, Hummels, 25, irritated the club's supporters by opting to head straight to the dressing room alone.
The Germany international, who did the same following Dortmund's 1-0 home defeat against Hamburg earlier this season, was heavily criticised on social media, but he took to Twitter to explain that he needed to receive treatment in the dressing room straight after the match.
"You could maybe see that I was on my way to the fans. But I was alone, and turned around because I was in pain," he wrote.
@DortmundUSA War schon auf dem Weg zu den Fans wie man vllt sehen konnte. Aber war allein und bin dann umgedreht aufgrund der Schmerzen.
- Mats Hummels (@matshummels) December 13, 2014
Questioned about the incident by ZDF TV, Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said that he was not aware of his captain's absence and added: "That's the smallest problem I have right now."
As well as leaving Dortmund down in 16th in the Bundesliga standings, the Hertha defeat means they are now only one point above bottom-of-the-league Stuttgart.
"We were just not good enough to win the match," Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender told the club's official website. "We need to get our act together. It's a brutal situation. We stand with our backs against the wall. I am just sad for the fans who supported us incredibly."
Ahead of Dortmund's final two games of 2014, the German media has upped the pressure on the club with the criticism targeting Klopp having increased.
Suddeutsche Zeitung used the headline: "Klopp proposes a conundrum" and hit out at the Dortmund boss for making the wrong personal decisions like not playing Kevin Grosskreutz and Shinji Kagawa.
"Little by little, the idyllic Dortmund world forms cracks," the paper commented.
And local outlet Der Westen said that the comparatively calm atmosphere at Dortmund might be "impressive" but also "dangerous" as it could lead to the club becoming the most-loved relegated team.
"It gets worse and worse. Borussia Dortmund remain at the bottom, because team and coach are not able to come up with a solution. Jurgen Klopp has run out of luck," kicker added, using the headline: "The horror never ends."