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From horse placenta massages in Eastern Europe to Felix Magath treating muscle injuries with cheese soaked in alcohol, professional footballers have long been known to use unconventional methods in order to recover from injury as quickly as possible. In keeping with this fine tradition, Jerome Boateng has recently unveiled his own unorthodox panacea: the majestic tiger.
Boateng is currently in Dubai completing the initial stages of his rehabilitation from a muscle injury sustained against Hamburg. He posted a picture of himself with a tiger on his Instagram account, leading Bild to report that Bayern will be getting a "Boatiger" when he returns to the team.
All joking aside, Boateng is currently in the recovery stage of his treatment and actually used this opportunity to check "meet a tiger" off of his bucket list. Barring any setbacks, his targeted return to training is in six weeks, meaning he is set to miss both legs of the Champions League round-of-sixteen matchup against Juventus as well as any possible quarterfinal matches should Bayern progress. A potential semifinal appearance is also unlikely as the first and second legs are scheduled for April 26-27 and May 3-4, respectively.
Given the current state of the Bayern defense, many fans will be hoping for the tiger to work some magic.