What next for Borussia Dortmund legend Marco Reus?
One of the harsh realities of that transition from being a child to an adult is realising that fairytales do not exist and happily ever afters are not often real. A giant gingerbread man does not exist, nor is there a staircase made out of a beanstalk to The Giant.
Yet for believers of football, there is a happy ending to some fairytales.
A date with destiny awaits Marco Reus and Borussia Dortmund in London on June 1 after seeing off the challenge of Paris Saint-Germain the semifinals. Here presents a real chance for Reus to end his illustrious run as a BVB player with the Champions League trophy in his hands as he dons the colours of Black and Yellow for the last time.
Reus is a player affiliated with unprecedented levels of loyalty to this club through the good, the bad, and the ugly. The 34 year old has been a footballer afflicted with incredible amounts of misfortune via injuries after missing out on Germany’s Euro 2016 and 2020 squads, as well as the World Cup winning 2014 squad and humbling 2022 run. He has seen many of his friends come, go and even return over the course of his time at Borussia Dortmund.
Yet a singular win against the mighty Real Madrid in the Champions League final could erase all those moments of hurt. To the masses of football fans around the globe, Borussia Dortmund are the true underdogs in this tie - yet it is a label that they have thrived under this season. Despite the depressing lows in the Bundesliga, anything but a victory will do in the final of the UEFA Champions League.
“Now we have to win the title, otherwise it would be sh*t.”
Speaking after the high of the PSG victory, those were the blunt words used by Reus himself when it came to his own post-Wembley emotions. For an elite athlete, those standards never drop until the boots are hung up for the last time. At the age of 34, Reus is not ready for that yet and a move abroad is the next best bet.
With a lack of gametime and value in Edin Terzic’s squad, it seemed rather inevitable that a departure was looming for Marco Reus this summer. Yet it wasn’t until the official announcement dropped that hearts sank and realities were hit for the first time.