Marco Reus is excited about the prospect of a fairytale finish to his Borussia Dortmund career and has told his team-mates to believe anything is possible in Saturday’s Champions League final with Real Madrid.
It was announced earlier this month that Reus would depart Dortmund this summer after 428 appearances and 12 years at the club.
Reus, 34, spent five of those seasons as captain and initially progressed through the Dortmund academy before he first made his mark at Borussia Monchengladbach.
A move to Signal Iduna Park followed in 2012 and he will close his memorable chapter with Dortmund with a second Champions League final appearance after he was involved in their loss to domestic rivals Bayern Munich in 2013, which was also played at Wembley.
“I would say there is nothing better than playing your last game in a Champions League final and winning it,” Reus told uefa.com.
“Starting with a Champions League final at Wembley in 2013 and finishing with one in 2024 for your last game, there are worse ways to end a Dortmund career.
“The last final at Wembley was 11 years ago and it’s a different opposition, different players as well, so it’s not about revenge, it’s just about the anticipation.
“Now the objective is to win the trophy because we cannot imagine how things could be the very next day here. It’s just about the next 90 minutes, possibly 120 minutes, which will decide.”
Dortmund are underdogs to beat 14-time European Cup winners Madrid and enter this weekend’s showpiece clash after a mixed run of form.
Edin Terzic’s side impressively beat Paris St Germain 2-0 on aggregate to reach the final earlier this month, but sandwiched between those ties were heavy Bundesliga defeats to Mainz and RB Leipzig.
Reus, who has scored four times in seven matches against Madrid, said: “You know what awaits you.
“Their players are used to these moments; they must be less nervous, but this doesn’t decide whether you win the game or not, because it will be decided on the pitch.
“They have strong players in every position, they play very calm football, they press very high, they run a lot, but it all depends on the momentum. We will analyse them really well.
“We will need to be in top form on the day; in a final, you need that bit of luck as well and, of course, you need to convert your chances.
“But it’s a one-off game and anything is possible – we must believe, we will believe, and we will have tremendous support behind us for this final.”