Key injury absences for a major final are never ideal, but Mario Gotze sitting out Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 UEFA Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich at Wembley in 2013 really stung. Mainly because the sparkling Dortmund youngster had agreed to join Bayern the previous month.
A year later, Robert Lewandowski made the same move from Signal Iduna Park to the Allianz Arena. Mats Hummels is back now, but he went to Bayern for a few years too.
If repeatedly bolstering their bitter rivals hurts for Dortmund, selling prime talent for top dollar is part of the model that has kept them competing with Europe’s elite. Despite selling Erling Haaland to Manchester City, Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal and Jadon Sancho to Manchester United (he has since, of course, done a Hummels) they’re back at Wembley on Saturday to face Real Madrid and their most recent superstar sale Jude Bellingham.
Marco Reus never left. He stayed, he thrilled and he toiled against numerous debilitating setbacks. Much has been made of Reus’ fellow Germany international, the imperious Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos, playing the final club game of his career in the Champions League final. But a Reus winner for Dortmund, probably from the bench, would be a fairytale ending beyond compare.
MORE: Who is the manager with the most Champions League titles, wins?
Who is Borussia Dortmund’s greatest-ever player?
Now 34, versatile forward Reus has a very strong claim to be considered Dortmund’s best of all time, certainly able to rub shoulders with Michael Zorc, Matthias Sammer and Andreas Moller — all heroes of BVB’s 1997 Champions League final triumph over Juventus.
Perhaps if injuries hadn’t frequently held him back, Reus would have preceded Bellingham, Haaland and Sancho by vaulting himself into the super-club conversation. But there’s also enough romanticism in his story to assume otherwise.
After being named Bundesliga Player of the Year in 2011/12 for a stellar campaign with Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayern wanted Reus but he opted for Dortmund — his boyhood club which he watched among the masses. A small brick in the Yellow Wall.
Borussia Dortmund all-time top scorers
| Rank | Player | Goals |
| 1. | Alfred Preissler | 177 |
| 2. | Marco Reus | 170 |
| 3. | Michael Zorc | 159 |
| 4. | Manfred Burgsmuller | 158 |
| 5. | Friedhelm Konietzka | 155 |
| 6. | Lothar Emmerich | 148 |
It’s easy to forget just what a magnificent player Reus was during the latter years of Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund reign. A sizzling, effervescent delight of a footballer comfortable anywhere across the front line, with the pace to hurt teams in behind and the craft and guile to unpick deep-lying defences.
Even though Klopp led Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12, their Champions League campaign the following season with Reus in harness felt like a coming out party as the rest of Europe were dazzled by a gifted young side and the fattest chequebooks were hastily thumbed through.
Dortmund were drawn into a devilishly tough group alongside Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax. Reus scored three times in six matches as they emerged undefeated and on top of the pile. His goalscoring performance in a match where a dishevelled City somehow burgled a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium remains one of the finest individual performances this writer has ever witnessed. Around that time, Lionel Messi made it his business to torment the Premier League team every time he faced them. Reus’ display that night belonged in the same bracket as the great man.
Borussia Dortmund all-time appearance makers
| Rank | Player | Appearances |
| 1. | Michael Zorc | 572 |
| 2. | Mats Hummels | 507 |
| 3. | Roman Weidenfeller | 453 |
| 4. | Marco Reus | 428 |
| 5. | Stefan Reuter | 421 |
| 6. | Lars Ricken | 407 |
Despite Bayern winning the treble, Reus retained his crown as the Bundesliga’s leading player in 2012/13. Like Messi, he was primed to have a huge say in the destination of the 2014 World Cup. Germany swept to glory in Brazil, with Reus’s old team-mate Gotze downing Messi and Argentina in the final. By that point, the problems had started.
MORE: How Real Madrid stunned Bayern Munich to reach UEFA Champions League final
What happened to Marco Reus?
During Germany’s final warmup game for the 2014 World Cup, Reus suffered a serious ankle injury against Armenia and was ruled out of the tournament.
Dortmund being able to keep moving forward despite selling their best players is commendable but baked into their structure. It was never the plan for Reus to mirror this by being laid low time and again by injury, but he stuck to his task heroically.
He returned to top form with 19 goals and six assists in 2015/16 but much of this fine work came as the forward ploughed through the pain barrier. A debilitating groin problem got the better of him, he missed Euro 2016 and did not play at all for club or country between late May and mid-November 2016.
Reus was back to score 13 goals in 22 starts in all competitions and his long wait for a major honour at Dortmund ended with a DFB-Pokall triumph. However, that came with a steep price as he suffered an ACL injury in the final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marco Reus at Borussia Dortmund season-by-season
| Season | Appearances | Starts | Minutes | Goals | Assists |
| 2012/13 | 45 | 40 | 3,416 | 18 | 11 |
| 2013/14 | 39 | 35 | 2,975 | 21 | 15 |
| 2014/15 | 29 | 27 | 2,245 | 11 | 6 |
| 2015/16 | 40 | 38 | 3,021 | 19 | 6 |
| 2016/17 | 24 | 22 | 1,694 | 13 | 5 |
| 2017/18 | 15 | 14 | 1,157 | 7 | 0 |
| 2018/19 | 36 | 35 | 3,046 | 21 | 10 |
| 2019/20 | 26 | 25 | 2,111 | 12 | 6 |
| 2020/21 | 49 | 39 | 3,349 | 11 | 12 |
| 2021/22 | 41 | 40 | 3,431 | 13 | 15 |
| 2022/23 | 31 | 19 | 1,806 | 8 | 6 |
| 2023/24 | 41 | 25 | 2,254 | 9 | 9 |
Despite this latest crushing blow, by 2018/19 Reus was matching his most prolific season in Dortmund colours as he scored 21 times and laid in 10 assists in 36 appearances. Once again he was Bundesliga player of the Season and slipped seamlessly into the role of elder statesman, a guiding light to the likes of Sancho, Haaland and Bellingham.
Reus’ game time has dwindled under Edin Terzic and his decision to move on at 34 years of age and 12 legend-making seasons feels like the best move for all parties. Until the end, he has continued to inspire and improve those around him. Only the very best players do that and the years of injury torment should not rob Reus of that distinction.
“The last dance, brother,” Sancho posted on Instagram after his team-mate and friend's pending departure was confirmed. “A link-up like no other. Memories I’ll cherish forever, brother.”
Brother. Superstar. Hero. Inspiration. Marco Reus has earned plenty of labels throughout his career. If he could finally be lucky this weekend there will not be a dry eye in the yellow half of Wembley.
