Borussia Dortmund midfielder out for the rest of the year

Borussia Dortmund have announced Mario Gotze will not feature again in 2017 after suffering a serious ankle injury during their 4-4 draw with Schalke on Saturday.

The Germany international was subbed off with 12 minutes remaining in Dortmund’s stunning capitulation after tearing two tendons in his right ankle and will now spend the next six weeks on the sidelines.

It means that Gotze will miss matches against Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Mainz, Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich as Dortmund close out 2017 with a tough run of games. 

Gotze has endured a turbulent year after missing the final three months of last season with a rare stomach disease.

However, the World Cup winner made a full recovery over the summer and had started nine of Dortmund’s 13 Bundesliga matches before injury wiped him out for the remainder of 2017.

Since the start of last season, Dortmund have won a significantly larger proportion of their Bundesliga matches without Gotze in the starting XI (62.1%) compared to when he has featured from the off (33.3%).