In the match between Schalke and Arminia Bielefeld, played this weekend, a dramatic moment occurred that could have had serious consequences.
In the 69th minute, Bielefeld striker Joel Grodowski fell to the ground after a hard collision with goalkeeper Loris Karius and remained motionless for several moments.
The Schalke goalkeeper, while trying to catch the ball, inadvertently hit Grodowski in the head with his left hand.
The striker immediately fell to the field, his arms outstretched, and the situation looked very serious.
At that moment, Nikola Katic, Schalke’s Bosnian defender, reacted immediately.
He ran to the scene and placed Grodowski in a safe side position, thus preventing the possibility of drowning or other serious consequences until medical staff arrived.
His quick reaction was widely praised by teammates, fans and coaching staff.
Schalke coach Miron Muslic did not hide his praise for the defender: “The situation seemed quite worrying. Nikola reacted brilliantly in a very tense moment. We at Schalke hope he will be fine,” Muslic said after the match, which Schalke won 2:1.
Fortunately, after a few minutes of treatment, Grodowski got up, hugged goalkeeper Karius and asked to continue the game, but was substituted as a precaution.
Arminia Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat confirmed that doctors immediately decided to stop the player from continuing the match.
“It’s good. If you asked him, he would say he can play, but we all saw that it wasn’t safe. We won’t take any risks,” Kniat declared.
Interestingly, Nikola Katic himself experienced a similar situation a few months ago.
In his debut against Hertha BSC in early August, he was hit in the head by a teammate and suffered bleeding from his ear.
Although he returned to the field for a few minutes, he was then sent off after his second yellow card and it was confirmed that he had suffered a concussion. /Telegraph/
