Breaking Down Marco Reus' Performance for Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich

Although Bayern Munich overcame Borussia Dortmund in the first der Klassiker of 2015 by the finest of margins on Saturday evening, Jurgen Klopp's side were once again undone by the same minor mistakes and eventualities that have continuously undermined their season. 

The defence held strong and Sven Bender and Ilkay Gundogan hassled the Bayern midfield of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso yet once again we saw very little from the forward line to even suggest a goal was on its way. 

Dortmund have long since given up the ethos of being a team built on defensive solidity. Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels were once the greatest partnership in European football for a period of time, yet Klopp's side have got by over the past few seasons by simply scoring one more than their opponents in any given game. 

Yet the goals have dried up. Dortmund's offensive players simply aren't clicking as well as the defence and midfield, and they're holding the team back. Yes, even the charismatic, loyal champion of this team: Marco Reus.

The German international was the catalyst behind Dortmund's surge up the league table in February, with four goals in the club's four consecutive victories in the Bundesliga, yet since then we've seen Reus struggle to make an impact against Hamburg, Cologne, Hannover and then, of course, Bayern. The forward scored 23 goals last season but hasn't managed to put the ball in the back of the net for the past 360 minutes of league football.

This was all too evident on Saturday against Bayern. Man for man, Dortmund were surprisingly robust against the German champions, yet Reus struggled to make a vital impact throughout the ninety minutes.   

Squawka

When we look at the positions the forward took for his 40 passes on the day—via Squawka—we see that despite initially taking up a position on the right-hand side, he often went drifting across the final third of the pitch in search of time and space on the ball.

Such a struggle is best characterised by the nature of Reus' passes too. The forward often took the ball into feet well, but as we can see from the graphic the vast majority of his passes to another player were often made back towards his own goal. In fact, Reus attempted just eight passes into or towards Bayern's box on the day with only one of them actually finding the intended target. 

Although disappointing most Dortmund fans will quite rightfully argue that Reus isn't the kind of player to set up plays; he's the one that finishes them. Yet without Nuri Sahin—Dortmund's natural playmaker—in the side the 25-year-old clearly took it upon himself to try to get some chances for his team. 

Sahin's absence in this team really can't be overplayed at the moment. Gundogan has reverted back into his shell of late, offering very little in attack or defence, while Bender—as impressive as he was against Bayern—is no playmaker. There's only one central midfielder at Dortmund who can lay out a pass for Reus and his company of strikers and that is the Turkish international. 

It's this lack of creativity at the base of Dortmund's midfield that forced Reus to pull back about 10-15 yards further back on the pitch and come deep for most of his passes. When the forward should have been standing on the shoulder of the last defender he was instead jumping through Schweinsteiger and Lahm-shaped hoops in the centre circle. 

Although he may have still won a point for his side with that fantastic free-kick in the 88th minute—saved by a dive and strong hand of Manuel Neuer—it would have been his only real attempt on Bayern's goal that day. 

Dortmund looked strong as a unit but they lacked creativity in attack. As such the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kevin Kampl and specifically Reus struggled to make the impact they so desperately needed in this biggest of games. 

@Sbienkowski