A moment from last Sunday's game in Tbilisi brought back memories from the past, as Marco Reus converted a fine solo effort by Mario Götze to give Germany a 1-0 lead over Georgia. They had linked up just like that so many times before while playing together at Borussia Dortmund. Today, their “bromance” is put on hold as they go head-to-head in BVB’s home clash with FC Bayern München (18:30 CET) on matchday 27 in the Bundesliga, but both players chose different paths to get there.
Götze's FC Bayern are still dominating the Bundesliga and once again vying for the Champions League title. Dortmund, on the other hand, have a long road ahead of them, having just recently left the relegation zone and faced elimination from Europe's elite club competition. However, Marco Reus has been an inspiration at times and a driving force behind BVB's attempts to stop the rot. His contract extension until 2019 was a signal, a lifetime decision, as he described it himself. The fans were obviously more than delighted. Reus has become the face of Borussia Dortmund. He chose a different path to Götze. Reus is yet to receive honours for winning a major title in his career, but he is worshipped above all.
Mario Götze will experience his second return to his former employers and he will surely remember the first one. Forced to warm up in the player's tunnel, he was victim to brutal verbal abuse from the Dortmund fans when he came on in the second half, only to score the opener ten minutes later. Once again Mario Götze, the three-time Bundesliga champion, two-time DFB Cup winner and World Champion, was in the right place at the right time – just like on so many other occasions.
Götze played for Dortmund when they were in a position to win titles, he joined FC Bayern as they began to invest heavily in order to reclaim the number one spot in Germany and he also ran just to just the right place in the 113th minute of the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro to chest down a cross from André Schürrle and fire home.
Reus and Götze enchant Europe
Marco Reus, on the other hand, joined Dortmund just as they had reached their zenith. BVB had won the domestic double in 2012, a year in which the then Gladbach midfielder was voted the Player of the Season by his Bundesliga colleagues. The reunion of this exceptional talent with his youth club made perfect sense. In their first season together, Reus and Götze enchanted all of Europe, when they prevailed in the Champions League’s "Group of Death" with Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax to go on and reach the final at Wembley.
Whenever one of the duo pulled off one of their strokes of genius, they shared an exclusive celebration routine by jumping into each other. They were iconic pictures at the time, but they have since started to fade away. The Reus/Götze partnership lasted for just 48 games before their paths took different directions.
Dortmund have since become very reliant on Reus. He has scored 37 goals and provided 28 assists in 78 Bundesliga games since his return to BVB in the summer of 2012. Dortmund collect a lot more points with Reus than they do without him. Germany's international provides BVB with pace, inspiration and a touch of genius. He is a constant threat to the opponent's goal and lifts the rest of his team to a higher level.
Dortmund's new duo
On the bright side, Reus has found a new spiritual brother at Dortmund in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Almost 70 percent of Dortmund's 16 goals in the second half of the season have been scored by one of the two attackers (Reus 4, Aubameyang 7). "We should take our derby victory against Schalke as a model for Saturday's game, and try to approach the match with the same attitude," explained Aubameyang, who scored the opener during that 3-0 victory over their Ruhr rivals several weeks ago, prompting a Batman and Robin celebration with his sidekick Reus, who wrapped up the win with an individual effort. A repeat performance in tonight's clash with FC Bayern would is certainly what Dortmund will have in mind.