The answer to the question will
now never be known -- for many football
fans had been wondering how Borussia
Dortmund's Mario Gotze would fare when
taking on future employers Bayern
Munich in Saturday's Champions League
final at Wembley.
After both German teams booked their
place in the final, supporters, journalists
and former players had asked how the
20-year-old would handle a situation
whereby he had the chance to shatter
Bayern's Champions League dream but
such thoughts now lie idle.
Read: Double trouble for the Bundesliga?
Last month, it was announced the
midfielder was joining Dortmund's biggest
Bundesliga rivals after the recently-
crowned German champions activated his
release clause with a bid of $47 million.
The move was criticized by many
Dortmund fans, disappointed that a player
who had been developed by the club's
academy since the age of 8 was being lost
so readily and by the timing of the news.
The announcement came on
the eve of the opening leg of
Dortmund's Champions
League semifinal with Real
Madrid, which the 2012
Bundesliga champions
ultimately won 4-3 on
aggregate to reach their first
final in 16 years.
Gotze was highly influential
in the first leg but tore his
hamstring 14 minutes into
Dortmund's 2-0 defeat in the
return fixture at the
Bernabeu on April 30 -- a
game that has proved to be
his last for the club.
"It was my big aim to play in
the final and I have been
working hard to reach that in
the last few weeks,"
Dortmund's website quoted
the German international as
saying on Wednesday.
"I am incredibly sorry that I can't help
the team in this really important game. I
have full confidence in the team and will
of course be going to London to support
the boys from the sidelines."
The attacking midfielder had maintained
hopes of playing in London until Tuesday,
when he managed an hour of training in
his first full session since April until an
adverse reaction curtailed his dream --
and so perhaps his chances of repairing
his damaged relationship with some fans.
For while the absence of Dortmund's
main playmaker represents a major
tactical blow for coach Jurgen Klopp, it has
been welcomed by a section of the club's
supporters.
The intensity of feeling following the April
announcement found some fans burning a
replica of his Dortmund jersey in online
videos and others labeling him 'Judas'
among other protests.
Read: Bundesliga boss hails youth policy
When hosting Bayern in a league match
on May 4 that ended 1-1, Dortmund fans
unveiled a massive banner reading 'The
quest for cash reveals how much heart
you really have, get lost Goetze'.
"What you find on the internet is that
some Dortmund fans are not that
disappointed that Gotze cannot play," said
Peter Penders, a sports journalist with
German newspaper Frankfurter
Allgemeine.
"A lot of them never wanted to see him
in a Dortmund jersey again as they no
longer saw him as the club's player after
he signed for Bayern."
"He had grown up at Borussia
Dortmund and was seen as a
player wholly created by
Borussia Dortmund, which is
why they were so
disappointed."
When the transfer was
announced, the charismatic
Klopp revealed that Gotze's
departure had hinged on the
fact that former Barcelona
Pep Guardiola, who will take
charge of Bayern after this
season, had identified him as
a key player.
"The reason Gotze is leaving?
He is the favorite transfer of
Guardiola," Klopp told
reporters. "So if it's anyone's
fault, it's mine. I cannot
make myself 15 centimeters
smaller and learn Spanish.
Gotze wants to work with
this extraordinary coach that
is Guardiola."
Despite the apathy of some
supporters, Dortmund - who
finished runner-up to Bayern
in this season's German
championship -- will miss the
creativity of a player with 12
league goals and 13 assists in both the
Bundesliga and Champions League this
season.
"Gotze's absence is a major problem in
attack because they have to change some
other things," added Penders.
"Perhaps Marco Reus will take his
position behind striker Robert
Lewandowski, with Kevin Grosskreutz
filling Reus' usual position on the wing."
Dortmund are also waiting on the fitness
of defender Mats Hummels, who is
receiving intense treatment on the ankle
he damaged in Saturday's surprise home
defeat by Hoffenheim.
Meanwhile, one of the players Gotze will
link up with next season says Bayern must
atone for final defeats to Inter Milan in
2010 and to Chelsea in their own stadium
last year.
"We have to win for the fans, the club
and the whole team," said Franck Ribery,
who joined the Bavarian club six years
ago.
"This is our third time, we have more
experience, know what it means to play
in a final, so it's nothing new for us,
everyone knows what they have to do
and how we have to play against
Dortmund.
"The defeat to Inter was hard, but the
loss to Chelsea really hurt, it was a huge
shock for everyone," added the French
winger.
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