Borussia Dortmund has learned that Marco Reus will miss four weeks after suffering a muscle tear in his thigh, the club announced.
It’s been an injury-plagued season for Reus, who missed nearly three months to start the season with a groin injury, and has only completed two full 90-minute performances the entire Bundesliga season. The 27-year-old was injured in the 6-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen, coming off just moments before halftime.
“It’s a real blow, because over the last few weeks and in particular in the opening stages today, which I felt were somewhat sluggish, Marco was the one who consistently got us going, who took the responsibility, who was alert,” Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel said after the win over Leverkusen. “He has been incredibly stable for weeks now, he’s been playing at a high level and is a very important character. It’s an enormous loss that takes the shine off the win.”
With Reus’s absence, young American winger Christian Pulisic could see his playing time spike again. The 18-year-old garnered a number of starts with Reus’s injury earlier in the season, but has seen his playing time drop since the German international’s return, with just one start in Dortmund’s last six matches.
Pulisic came off the bench to replace Reus against Leverkusen, and scored in the 77th minute, a vital goal with the scoreline at 3-2. That goal opened the floodgates, and Pulisic picked up an assist on the sixth and final goal for Dortmund.