Mario Götze rejoined Borussia Dortmund this summer after three years at Bayern. - © © imago / ActionPictures
Mario Götze rejoined Borussia Dortmund this summer after three years at Bayern. - © © imago / ActionPictures

Götze settling back in at his old stomping ground

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When Mario Götze departed the action in the 71st minute of Borussia Dortmund's Matchday 5 meeting with SC Freiburg, it was no ordinary substitution.

The vast majority of the 80 thousand-plus crowd at the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK joined almost as one in a round of applause for their No10 as he left the pitch – not a reaction the man himself had in any way been taking for granted come the end of the first Bundesliga shift back at his original football home.

“I'm very, very relieved. Happy with the win, the three points and the response when I was subbed off,” Götze said on the back of BVB's 3-1 victory, admitting, “I had been a bit worried about how it was all going to pan out.” Justifiably so, given the widespread acrimony the then-21-year-old wunderkind's initial move from Dortmund to arch-rivals FC Bayern München in 2013 had sparked among the club's vast army of supporters.

- © imago