Felipe Melo isn’t known as the ‘Pitbull’ for no reason; the guy can be absolute animal on the football pitch.Now 33 and plying his trade on loan with Palmeiras from Inter Milan, the Brazilian midfielder hasn’t lost any of his combative edge as he’s aged.But contrary to what some football fans might believe, Melo - the owner of arguably football’s least apt surname - *is* human and not even he could stay on after suffering a terrible clash of heads with one his teammates against Corinthians on Thursday evening.The Brazilian went up for the ball but smashed straight into the side of Yerry Mina’s head.It was a sickening blow and both players required immediate medical treatment. Melo was forced off but, incredibly, Mina continued and finished the match.

Video: The sickening clash of heads

Watch the incident here...

Melo shows off his nasty injury

Palmeiras lost the match 1-0 after the former Manchester City striker Jo scored an 87th-minute winner for the home side, but the away fans will have been eagerly awaiting any news on the condition of their talismanic midfielder.

It turned out that Melo was reasonably okay, although the collision left an absolutely awful gash across his right eyebrow.

Melo posted a photo of his injury on Instagram, adding: “I tried to stay in the game after the shock, but it was hurting a lot and I could not see anything.”

Ouch!

According to Eurosport, the South American was required to have 13 stitches to close the wound.

Must have stung a bit, although the Pitbull can handle a bit of pain.

In fact, it would come as no surprise if Melo is named in the starting line-up for Palmeiras’s next match against Ferroviária on Saturday.

Get well soon, Felipe!