Favre hopeful of Reus making a comeback before end of season
Speculation earlier this week claimed Marco Reus' season is over, but Lucien Favre is remaining optimistic.
Published : May 22, 2020 16:28 IST
Borussia Dortmund coach Lucien Favre is not giving up on Marco Reus playing again this season despite reports claiming his 2019-20 campaign is already over.
Reus suffered a groin injury during a DFB-Pokal match in February, and although he was only thought to be facing a month out, the 30-year-old still has not been able to return to full training.
It was reported earlier in the week that Reus will definitely miss next Tuesday's Klassiker against Bayern Munich, and an absence until the end of the season is likely.
Favre, speaking ahead of Saturday's trip to Wolfsburg, refused to openly confirm or contradict those claims, though he did appear hopeful that Reus would be able to feature again this term as Dortmund challenges Bayern for the Bundesliga title.
"He hasn't trained with the team yet," Favre told reporters.
"We hope that he will come back as soon as possible and can help us until the end of the season."
There was positive news with respect to Emre Can and Giovanni Reyna. The midfield pair missed the 4-0 win over Schalke as Dortmund resumed its season last Saturday, and they are due to be involved in team training on Friday.
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Dortmund has had to contend with numerous injuries of late, with Axel Witsel still out with a muscular problem and Dan-Axel Zagadou set for a long absence due to a knee ligament injury, but Favre feels such issues were to be expected following the coronavirus-enforced pause.
"We trained first in groups of two, then in groups of four. There is a certain danger," he said. "We all did not train normally and then had to train properly four or five days before a championship game, duels. This is not a big surprise for me."
Favre also cast a doubt a Mario Gotze's future at Dortmund as he admitted the Germany international does not suit his formation.
"Right now, we are playing 3-4-3," he said ahead of Saturday's clash with Wolfsburg. "So, I have been talking to Mario Gotze, and unfortunately this is not the right system for him. You must say the truth about this.
"Of course, he is able to play half-left or half-right, but we will see. There are still many games ahead of us and we need to count on every single player."
The midfielder confirmed in April that he was planning to leave BVB at the end of the season as he sought a new direction for his career, although CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke later suggested Gotze could decide to sign a new contract.