Marco Reus scores on his comeback as Borussia Dortmund beat Sparta Rotterdam

Borussia Dortmund played out their final pre-season game before the DFB Pokal first round, beating Sparta Rotterdam 2-1 with Marco Reus on the scoresheet.

The first thing to note in this one is that Lucien Favre finally went with a back three, playing in a 3-5-2, which allowed him to use both Lukasz Piszczek and Emre Can effectively in central defence. Even though Dortmund did concede late on, they allowed virtually nothing else. The three at the back just feels like it adds a lot more defensive stability compared to the back four.

The headline however is that captain Marco Reus finally made his comeback after seven months out with injury. While a lot of fans expected Reus to maybe play 45-60 minutes as they ease him back into the squad it was clear from the get go his fitness was a lot better than expected. Reus played 70 minutes and looked fresh the while time. Reus also got the party started, scoring the go ahead goal for Borussia Dortmund following a great solo run. Julian Brandt found him out wide and Reus cut inside, dribbling past three defenders before beating the keeper. Barring any set backs Reus looks like he should be fully fit for the start of the season.

Immanuel Pherai was Borussia Dortmund’s other goal scorer, finding the net with his first touch in the game. Marius Wolf found Pherai with a low driven cross to put Dortmund ahead by two. Rotterdam were able to claw one back with a well executed counter, but outside of that chance Dortmund dominated the tempo and possession. Gio Reyna and Julian Brandt also came close to scoring for the Black and Yellows.

Lastly, 16 year old Nnamdi Collins made his Dortmund pre-season debut, coming on for the final eight minutes. Collins and Yousouffa Moukoko will be the two youngsters to keep an eye on this season as they push to be brought into the Dortmund first team.