Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has voiced his frustration with Antonio Rudiger after a collision with Kevin De Bruyne left the Manchester City man with a nasty injury during the Champions League final defeat to Chelsea.
De Bruyne may well now be a doubt for the rearranged Euro 2020 after suffering a fractured nose and eye socket following a painful clash with Chelsea's Rudiger.
The distraught Belgium international was visibly in tears as he made his way off the field just before the hour mark, making way for Gabriel Jesus before watching the remaining 30 minutes from the City bench.
Chelsea went on to shut City out, reducing them to just one shot on target over the course of 90 minutes, an impressive feat considering the Citizens' attacking prowess.
Rudiger, who was instrumental in the Blues' victory, apologised for the incident on Twitter, claiming he did not mean to hurt the City captain.
However, that will be of little consolation to Belgium boss Martinez, who could miss his star player for this summer's European Championships.
Martinez was incensed by Rudiger's foul and believes the German should have been sent off for the clash.
“For me, Rudiger is very, very fortunate,” said Martinez.
“When you look at the replay, there's no clash of heads. He’s properly leaving the shoulder against Kevin. He seems concussed and we will see the state of that.
“But that leaves a sour taste because Rudiger’s holding his head, it’s almost that he wants to show that he’s hiding something.
“For me, it was excessive force and it was reckless. And it should have been a red card.
“Kevin is not a player that goes down for no reason. You can see the pain and it’s a swollen eye.”
De Bruyne will face a race against time in order to play Belgium's Euros opener against Russia on June 12.
The midfield maestro may have to wear a protective mask if he is to play for the Red Devils this summer.
De Bruyne updated fans on Twitter on Sunday: “Hi guys just got back from the hospital. My diagnosis is acute nose bone fracture and left orbital fracture.
"I feel okay now. Still disappointed about yesterday obviously but we will be back.”
