"We're not playing chess" was Hamburg striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga's explanation for his brutal foul on Brazil centre-back Dante in his side's 1-1 German league draw with Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Dante was left clutching his leg in agony at Wolfsburg's Volkswagen Arena after being on the wrong end of Lasogga's crunching tackle on the Selecao star which earned him a yellow card. He was lucky to escape a red.

"One shouldn't exaggerate things, we're not playing chess here," said Germany international Lasogga after receiving his third yellow card of the season.

"A little bit of physical contact is part of the game, nothing more.

"It's really one of the good things about football and if it wasn't there, then the emotions would be completely absent in the game."

But ex-Bayern defender Dante took a less romantic approach to the bone-crunching tackle.

"That was definitely a red. It was a clear red," fumed the Wolfsburg star.

Nicolai Mueller's opening goal for Hamburg was cancelled out by Maxilian Arnold's equaliser for Wolves, who reached the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday with a 3-2 win at home to Manchester United.

Ther Bundesliga result moved Wolfsburg up to fourth while Hamburg are ninth in the table.