After more than a year, Gio Reyna has finally started a game for Borussia Dortmund again.
A lot has changed for both the team and the American attacking midfielder, who could play an important role for the United States in the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in the U.S. Reyna’s start in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Barcelona showed that he has a future with Dortmund.
Reyna didn’t have a major impact during his 73 minutes on the field against Barcelona, but he didn’t look out of place either. Despite the injuries that have slowed him down in his club career, he appeared fit enough to keep up with the game.
“It was great. Just really, really happy to be back on the field. It’s obviously when I’m happiest,” Reyna said in a video interview released by the club on Thursday morning.
“(Coach Nuri Sahin) really just wanted me to play my game and use my ability on the ball and talents to find the ball in areas and get other guys involved, and I feel like I did a good job of that,” Reyna added. “Really just happy to be back out there today. I just have to take it and fight for more opportunities and look to really improve now.”
Since Reyna last started a Dortmund game on Nov. 1, 2023, he has had a mostly disappointing loan at Nottingham Forest, while Dortmund reached the Champions League final without him. He also had a groin injury that kept him out of the first four U.S. games under new coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Reyna may now get more chances to play for Dortmund in place of an injured Julian Brandt, starting with Sunday’s game against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
On Wednesday, Reyna played alongside two young Dortmund attackers — 20-year-old English winger Jamie Gittens, who has scored nine goals this season, and 18-year-old Julien Duranville, who impressed in his first start of the season.
Dortmund’s main problem is at the other end of the field.
Nico Schlotterbeck suffered a serious ankle injury in the final moments of the game, leaving Dortmund without any healthy central defenders. Losing Schlotterbeck would be a “total meltdown,” coach Sahin said to broadcaster DAZN on Wednesday.
Schlotterbeck had already been playing alongside midfielder Emre Can in defense because Niklas Süle is out for months and Waldemar Anton’s return from a muscle injury is still uncertain.
Schlotterbeck suffered ligament damage, but the club didn’t give a timeline for his recovery on Thursday, saying only that it was “questionable” whether he would play again before the new year.
One positive for Dortmund is that the team has only two more games before the 19-day winter break, which begins after their match against Wolfsburg on Dec. 22.
