Why isn’t Reyna playing for Dortmund against Real Madrid in the Champions League?

Borussia Dortmund and USMNT winger Giovanni Reyna continues his period on the sidelines after suffering an injury on international duty mid-September, so won’t play against Real Madrid on Tuesday. The 21-year-old returned to Germany early from the international break having suffered the injury in a training session, before missing out on a 2-1 loss to Canada and a 1-1 draw with New Zealand in a pair of friendlies.

The initial feeling was that he would be back by the time the Stars and Stripes were playing again, but the player remained out as Mauricio Pochettino watched his new team beat Panama and lose to Mexico in the recent break.

What injury does Gio Reyna have?

The player suffered a groin strain that has kept him out for longer than the “few week” expected by Nuri Sahin, the manager of Borussia Dortmund.

He missed the 7-1 thrashing of Celtic in the last UCL matchday, and couldn’t even make the bench for the weekend Bundesliga win over St Pauli. His recovery will continue as his teammates get involved in a rematch of last season’s Champions League final, albeit at the home of the 15-time winners rather than Wembley. Also missing are Karim Adeyemi, Julien Duranville and Yan Couto.

Last season under Edin Terzic, Reyna found playing time hard to come by, and was sent out on loan to Premier League side Nottingham Forest. While in the Midlands Reyna played 10 times and got just one assist, scoring zero goals. For the Black & Yellow, Reyna has played a total of 122 times, scoring and assisting 17 times each.