Reus: Borussia Dortmund lacked “the greed to want to win” against Duesseldorf

Marco Reus believes that Borussia Dortmund deserved to lose to Fortuna Dusseldorf and they must learn from their first league defeat of the season.

Goals from Dodi Lukebakio and Jean Zimmer helped last season’s 2. Bundesliga champions stun Borussia Dortmund and consign them to their first league loss of the Lucien Favre era. The Black and Yellows were far from their best and were thoroughly outplayed by the team battling relegation.

"“I think we were missing the greed to want to win the game, Marco Reus said after the game. We knew before that Düsseldorf will come a lot through counterattack. That’s how it happened. We make a stupid mistake in the game as we lose the ball, and after a pass Dusseldorf makes the goal. Then it’s like running against a wall.”“Overall the defeat was deserved because we did not deliver. We have to learn from this and be more determined. Now we must stand up and dust off and on Friday we have the next game.”"

Borussia Dortmund had close to 75% of the possession, but it was Dusseldorf who created the better chances. And it could have been much worse for the Bundesliga leaders, had Takashi Usami not missed two glorious chances in the game. Dortmund did get better with the introductions of Paco Alcacer and Jadon Sancho in the second half. The former pulled a goal back with a fine header in the 81st minute, but Dortmund failed to find an equaliser.

The defeat means that Borussia Dortmund’s lead at the top of the table has been cut to six points ahead of their next game against second placed Monchengladbach. Gladbach beat Nuremberg 2-0 on Saturday and will now be hoping to make further inroads into Dortmund’s lead when the two sides meet on Friday. Bayern Munich, who are currently third, could move level on points with Gladbach with a win against RB Leipzig on Wednesday.

Dortmund could be without their three key centre backs against Monchengladbach. Dan Axel Zagadou is already out with a foot injury, while Manuel Akanji both suffered injuries during the game. Omer Toprak is the only fit centre back in the first team at the moment, and it will be interesting to see who gets the nod to start on Friday.

"Lucien Favre said after the game, “They caught us on the break really well and we were a bit surprised by the first goal. My team is still very, very young and we keep learning every day. We have to wait and see who can play in central defense on Friday. Today Akanji and Diallo are out, both are injured. Zagadou is also injured.”"