Hamburger SV winger Nicolai Müller will miss the next seven months due to an injury he sustained in his side's 1-0 win over Augsburg on Saturday.
Ecstasy becomes agony after winger put Hamburg in front
Müller scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the eighth minute of the game but went down clutching his knee after wheeling away in his usual celebration in which he jumped into the air and span around before going down in agony.
He was forced off the field due to the injury and it has now been confirmed that he has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and will play no part in the next seven months of Hamburger's season, perhaps signalling the end of the new season for Müller after just one game.
The club's sporting director Jens Todt said that "the diagnosis has come to a huge shock to us" and admitted that Müller's absence is "a serious blow to our season".
Todt continued by saying that the injury is "absolutely gutting for Nicolai" with the player now likely to miss most if not all of the 2017/18 season, adding that the club will "support him as best we can throughout [the recovery process]."
Müller devastated to be missing the majority of the new season
Müller himself said that the injury is "very unfortunate", confirming that the rupture to his ACL came as he "slipped with my right leg after my usual helicopter celebration."
The 29-year-old said that "my family stabilises me" throughout the recovery process but admitted that "right now there are not many things which could cheer me up."
The injury comes as a huge blow to Hamburger as well as Müller himself as he is a regular starter for Die Rothosen, racking up five goals and seven assists in 25 Bundesliga appearances last season.