BERLIN - Gabon striking star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has reacted with disappointment to being suspended by Borussia Dortmund ahead of Friday's Bundesliga game away to VfB Stuttgart.
Dortmund said the 28-year-old forward would be left out of the squad for "disciplinary reasons", reportedly arriving between 20 and 30 minutes late to training on Thursday.
It is Aubameyang's second internal suspension after he was left out of the squad for a Champions League game last November for an unauthorized shopping trip to Milan.
"After Milan I could understand the punishment and the suspension because I went against an instruction," Aubameyang told the Bild newspaper. "This time I really don't understand it. I didn't want to arrive too late."
Aubameyang was the top scorer in the Bundesliga last season and has 10 goals in 11 Bundesliga games this season. However, he has notched just one in the last six, in all competitions, coinciding with Dortmund's form deteriorating.
Dortmund are third in the table going into the Stuttgart game, six points behind league leaders Bayern Munich.