Borussia Dortmund found themselves in danger of being late for their DFB Pokal tie against Sportfreunde Lotte when their team bus ran aground in a farmer's field on the way to the stadium.
Roughly four hours before the quarterfinal game was due to start, the Dortmund bus got stuck while attempting to navigate down a narrow country lane.
Auch das noch #SFLBVB Mannschaftsbus steckt im Acker fest #lotte @DFB 4 Stunden vor Anpfiff @sportschau Trecker muss her @SportblitzNews pic.twitter.com/oLMkcoWl5T
- Ludwig Evertz (@EvertzLudwig) February 28, 2017
Thankfully, a local farmer was on hand to help rescue the bus with a shunt from his tractor.
Trecker zieht Dortmunder Mannschaftsbus vom Acker #SFLBVB fängt ja gut an.@sportschau #DFBPokal kicken auf dem Land pic.twitter.com/OAFayN24xd
- Ludwig Evertz (@EvertzLudwig) February 28, 2017
As it transpired, the match never actually went ahead after a flurry of snow before kick-off saw the officials rule the pitch unplayable.
"I could not guarantee the health of the players, the surface was soaked," said referee Felix Brych after making the call.
We can only guess that Dortmund took a different route home.