Giovanni Reyna just can’t get going this season. The 19-year-old Dortmund player suffered a muscle injury after less than a minute in Stuttgart.
53 seconds were played on Friday evening in wet and cold Stuttgart, when the US-American Reyna shed bitter tears. The attacking talent pulled off a little sprint on the right against Stuttgart’s Sosa, which he immediately had to continue hopping because he felt a twinge in his right rear thigh muscle.
Immediately Reyna indicated that it would go no further – his coach Marco Rose shook his head in frustration, the Dortmund professionals consoled the unlucky player. “The ‘Gio’ is exhausted,” Rose described the youngster’s state of mind, who disappeared into the Stuttgart catacombs completely distraught.
The match against the Swabians was only the tenth Bundesliga appearance of the season for the midfielder. Reyna had made his comeback against Bayer Leverkusen in early February after months of muscular problems. On 20 February, against Borussia Mönchengladbach, he was back in the starting eleven for the first time since August 2021, but had to be substituted with an injury in the 30th minute. Now he is threatened with another, possibly longer, absence.
Dahoud’s shoulder “out twice” – Hummels also has to go down
However, things got even worse for Dortmund at VfB in the first period as midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud also had to be substituted early on. The two-time international had to be replaced with a shoulder injury in the 36th minute under the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick and his predecessor Joachim Löw – Axel Witsel came on for him. After the game, Rose stated that Dahoud’s shoulder had been out “twice”.
At half-time, Mats Hummels stayed in the dressing room – the defensive chief grabbed his thigh a few times in the first half. Dan-Axel Zagadou came on for the 33-year-old veteran.
