Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus has been ruled out for the remainder of the year due to a groin injury.
The 26-year-old was forced off in the closing stages of the first half during his side's 4-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, and will not feature again before the winter break.
An MRI scan revealed that there was no tear to the muscle, and Reus is expected to be fit when the Bundesliga season resumes in January.
It is the third time this year that Reus has been ruled out with a groin injury, having previously spent time on the sidelines in April and November.
"It happened as he was turning. Marco felt the pain and immediately indicated that he needed to be substituted off. It saddens me because Marco has had no issues recently," manager Thomas Tuchel told reporters.
"I was actually very confident that we would guide him into the winter break in fantastic physical condition so that we could go that extra mile in our winter preparations."
Reus will miss Wednesday's DFB-Pokal clash with Augsburg in addition to Saturday's Bundesliga game against Koln.
Dortmund are currently second in the table, just five points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Barney Corkhill
