Jurgen Klopp faced a worst-case scenario following his team’s departure from Benteler Arena on Saturday.
Not only did his side Borussia Dortmund fail to hold a 2-0 lead and finish with a disappointing draw against Germany’s most exciting Rebel Army Paderborn, but he also knew he could be down his team’s most exciting player for a critical period in his club’s season as they look to pull themselves out of the relegation zone.
“It is very difficult to process the fact that Marco Reus could again be ruled out, more difficult than dealing with the draw,” Klopp said after the match.
Those fears were confirmed today, as Ruhr Nachrichten’s Florian Groeger is reporting Marco Reus is out for the rest of 2014 with torn lateral ankle ligaments following a horrific tackle by Marvin Bakalorz who slid in over the ball, and somehow escaped without a sending off, which clearly should have been given.
Instead, it was Reus who was forced off the pitch, on a stretcher after his ankle buckled under the tackle.
Borussia Dortmund has yet to confirm the injury news, although they did post this just a short while ago saying they “support” and “stand behind” their fallen attacker.
Gute Besserung, @woodyinho! Du packst das auch dieses Mal! Die gesamte BVB-Familie steht hinter Dir! #lasttweet pic.twitter.com/ulgapgQivB
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) November 23, 2014
The story is especially sad when you consider Reus was forced to miss the World Cup as well as the start of this season after suffering a serious ankle injury at the tail end of the previous campaign, and will be forced into yet another long rehab. Reus was having a monster year before and after his previous injury, with 17 goals and 14 assists in 29 matches across the 2014 calendar year.
He would likely return sometime in January, and six weeks is a realistic timetable for Reus’s return to the field.
Following the match, Bakalorz was incredibly apologetic for his tackle, and insisted he was not trying to injure the Dortmund playmaker. “I have seen the foul on television, and it’s really bad. Of course I did not intend to hurt him. I understand that Klopp is upset. The unfortunate challenge overshadows our draw, and I can not be happy about the result.”
The 25-year-old Paderborn midfielder spent three years with Borussia Dortmund before leaving two years ago, and although he never cracked the first team, he made 83 appearances for the Dortmund reserve team and became friends with Reus during that time.
Images from Sky Sports in Germany showed Reus leaving the hospital this morning on crutches:
Exklusiv: Marco #Reus verlässt das Krankenhaus. Diagnose folgt. @Sky_Sascha #BVB #SkyBuli #ssnhd pic.twitter.com/hjgbnBcM8A
— Sky Sport News (@SkySportNews) November 23, 2014