Borussia Dortmund has announced today that star midfielder,
Mario Gotze, will not be playing in this weekend’s Champion’s League Final
match against Bayern Munich. Gotze has
already been confirmed to be leaving Dormund to go to Munich in the
summer. This transfer was announced
nearly a month ago, days before the German midfielder pulled up with what seemed
to be a hamstring injury in their second semi-final match against Real Madrid. I’m not sure why the two clubs wouldn't wait
until the end of the season to make the news public, because now so many things
can be speculated.
It seems a little odd, the timing that things were announced. Bayern Munich had a very easy time with their
first match against Barcelona in the Champions League, winning 4-0. Dortmund also had a convincing 4-1 win
against Real Madrid. With the Champions
League Final pretty much set, Gotze and Munich feel that is the time to tell
Dortmund that the #10 wants to be released to sign with their rival club. The transfer window doesn't even open until July
1, so could Bayern Munich be trying to use this as a tactic to get in Dortmund’s
minds?
It may have already worked..
Did anyone else see Mario Gotze's hamstring injury? There was no contact on the play, which is
typical of most hamstring pulls/strains, but he isn't in a dead sprint or doing
anything extremely strenuous when he first complains. The ball comes to him again on the same play
and he lobs it over the defense to a teammate who is offside. He then decides that he cannot play anymore. I pulled (not strained) my hamstring before after
being in a straight sprint, and I needed a little help walking off the field;
there was definitely no receiving and playing a ball in the air. However, I was back to match fitness and able
to play three weeks later in our conference tournament.
I was a junior at the time so I was 20 years old, same age
as Gotze. He also probably has a much
better diet than I do, and no offense to my old athletic training staff, but
probably much higher quality recovery methods available. I know that every injury is different, but
with the conditions of his situation, I would expect a recovery by now to play
in the biggest game of his life..
I want to point out that I am not calling Mario Gotze a
faker. I think that it is very possible
that he could have pulled/strained his hamstring and that it is still not
healed enough to play 100%. However, it
is possible that knowing he had a sure deal with Munich, Gotze didn't prepare
for that Madrid game like he should have leading to his injury. It is also possible that he hasn't been
taking his treatment as seriously as he could to get back into shape to play against
his future club. If there were no
transfer already on the table, all of Gotze’s focus would be on returning to
the team to play in the Champions League final.
Dortmund will have a very tough time without Gotze in the
final. Star center back Mats Hummels is carrying
a small injury as well, but has said he is healthy enough to start. With Dortmund’s #10 on the bench, though, I
have to switch my prediction to Bayern Munich as Champions League winners.
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