‘Target is to fight for top in Bundesliga, and go far in Champions League’: Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus

In 2013, when Borussia Dortmund played Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, it appeared that German football would see a major shift. While Bayern Munich had dominated the club football in Germany for the past several years, Dortmund’s re-rise in the early 2010s, brought upon by some of the bright young stars of football, gave hopes that the Bundesliga may become a more competitive league it once used to be.

While Dortmund lost the 2013 final 1-2 against their German rivals, it was not seen as a defeat. In fact, the loss intensified the rivalry between the two clubs and the contests between Dortmund and Bayern drew fan interests from all around the world for the next few years.

But over the past couple of seasons, with Dortmund’s continuous change of managerial guards, and several first-team players leaving the club, their form has taken a hit. Bayern have once again risen to the top of the pile and have increased the gap between them and all their rivals.

In the 2019/20 season, Bayern won the league with 82 points, while Dortmund came in 2nd with 69 points. In the 2020/21 season, Dortmund showed great spirits as they managed to finish third in the season with 64 points, despite a poor showing in the first half of the season. But the gap between them and the winners Bayern remained at 14 points.

Ahead of the start of the 2021/22 season, Dortmund’s star-forward Marco Reus stressed that the club wants to regain the top position in the Bundesliga and wishes to bridge the gap with Bayern Munich. Reus also pointed out one major difference between the two clubs over the years.

“As I said already before, it all depends on us. It is all in our hands. We need to show, and want to show, this continuity of winning matches and fight for the top places in the Bundesliga. In one year, everything now has to work out to have a chance against a team like Bayern Munich, who are the leaders in the Bundesliga,” Reus said in a reply to a question posed by Hindustan Times at a Borussia Dortmund virtual media roundtable session.

“They are winning even after bad performances, we were not able to do this in the last season. This is something which we need to start doing as well, find a way to win matches, despite showing poor performances. Bayern did it, that is why they have won so many titles over the years.

“Our big target, the objective has always been and is to fight for the top and to get far in the Champions League, make it again in the Cup final. We want to make it to Berlin and defend our title,” he added.

“It’s what we want to show in Bundesliga, we want to show our style of football, what we are able to play. We are working hard for it, we are getting prepared well for the next season,” Reus said.

“Hopefully, we can make it to all the competition. Of course, all of us have to be stay and remain healthy, and then we can make it to the end,” the German winger signed off.