Rough Schalke striker, who had received six-match ban for his sending off after a savage start, had a bit of luck this time, since German FA (DFB) reduced his penalty from six to four matches.

At first, he was given a six-match suspension for being sent off because of a reckless and brutal start on Manuel Schmiedebach, five minutes before the end of a 1-0 victory against Hanover. Schalke had appealed against that decision and DFB decided that those two games should have conditional effect until the end of the next January.

Huntelaar couldn’t help his teammates in a game against Bayern, where Schalke got only one point at Allianz Arena despite having a player more for 70 minutes, and should be back just for a big derby against Borussia Dortmund at the end of February.

Although not being very efficient in the Bundesliga, where he has scored just seven times so far this season, he is still eligible to play in Champions League game against Real Madrid, scheduled for two weeks at Schalke’s home ground.