MARCO REUS is getting ready to play the final big game of his career when he steps out at Wembley on Saturday.
The Borussia Dortmund legend will bid farewell to his boyhood club in what promises to be an emotional night.
And very few outside the Real Madrid fanbase could begrudge him bowing out in style.
Even former team-mate Jude Bellingham, one of the men trying to stop him, would deep down be delighted for Reus.
For a win in the Champions League final the day after his 35th birthday would be the crowning moment for Dortmund’s local-boy-done-good - and one who has endured his fair share of heartache over the years.
Make no mistake about it, Reus is a living legend in the German city.
He secured that status a long time ago - thanks to a mutual love, connection and loyalty between the player, the club, the fans and the city.
But the adoration has been clear to see in recent weeks during Reus’ goodbye.
He announced earlier this month that his expiring contract would not be renewed so after 12 years back at Signal Iduna Park, the popular star is leaving at the end of the season.
Reus received a resounding reception as he was subbed off late on in Dortmund’s final home game of the season - a 4-0 thrashing of Darmstadt.
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The club legend marked his departure with his 170th goal for the club - second on the all-time club list - after treating all 81,000 fans to a free beer, accompanied with hand-written notes in the concourse reading: “Thanks for everything! The farewell beer is on me. Yours, Marco.”
After blowing kisses to the partizan crowd, including the iconic Yellow Wall, he was given a guard of honour by his team-mates who sent him off in style.
Jadon Sancho, back on loan at Dortmund from Manchester United, said: “He’s the GOAT, the legend, he is him… love you Marco.”
And that leaves one final game in the famous yellow and black… the biggest one of all against the 14-time European champions.
And it presents Reus with the chance to secure the most significant trophy of his career.
Remarkably, he has been limited to just two DFB-Pokals and three German Supercups - with no Bundesliga title or Champions League crown… yet.
Borussia Dortmund finished second to Bayern Munich in seven of Reus’ 12 seasons - with both the 2018-19 and 2022-23 seasons going down to the final day.
In 2023, Edin Terzic’s side came within a whisker of ending their long wait to be national champions.
Knowing a win at home to Mainz would be enough to secure the title, they could only manage a 2-2 draw allowing Bayern to pip them thanks to Jamal Musiala’s 89th-minute winner.
Then there was the 2013 Champions League final as Dortmund lost to their bitter rivals at Wembley.
Oh how sweet it would be for Reus to bury those demons for good against Los Blancos on the very same pitch 11 years later.
But while his Dortmund career has been a series of near misses, for superstitious Reus - who always puts his right sock, shin pad and boot on first but steps on to the pitch with his left - his international one is more about sheer bad luck.
His superb 2011-12 form not only earned him Bundesliga Player of the Season and his move back to Borussia Dortmund from Borussia Monchengladbach - six years after he was released by Dortmund aged 16 for being too small.
But it also earned him a spot in Joachim Low’s Euro 2012 squad, scoring in the 4-2 quarter-final win over Greece.
Two years later, he looked on course to be a key man at the 2014 World Cup.
However, heartbreakingly, Reus injured his ankle in a 6-1 warm-up friendly win over Armenia on June 6, just seven days before Germany’s opening game in Brazil.
It forced him to withdraw from the squad and he watched on from home as best-mate Mario Gotze scored the dramatic extra-time winner in the final - before holding up a ‘Reus 21’ Germany shirt on the pitch amid the trophy celebrations.
Then to make matters worse, Reus suffered a groin problem just before Euro 2016 so missed that tournament, too.
He was fit to play at the 2018 World Cup - grabbing a goal and an assist in the 2-1 win over Sweden - but it was a nightmare tournament for the defending champions who were booted out in the group stages.
Reus needed time for his body to recover from another injury-hit campaign and that saw him left out of the delayed Euro 2020 then an ankle problem ruled him out of the 2022 World Cup in further devastation.
Ironically, that solo World Cup goal means Reus has one more than the man he was named after: Marco van Basten.
Born in May 1989, Thomas and Manuela Reus were planning to call their baby son Dennis - but Dutchman Van Basten’s sensational volley in the Euro 1988 final convinced them otherwise.
But Marco is not his only name with a story behind it.
Plenty of his friends dub him Woody - after Woody Woodpecker thanks to his spikey hair - while Prince of Dortmund is another of his nicknames.
Born in the city in western Germany and a stalwart for their football club, Reus is a hero in Dortmund.
He has only added to his glowing reputation by regularly visiting children in the city’s hospitals, donating the profits of his own MRXI clothing brand to charity and donating a staggering €500,000 to local small businesses during Covid to help keep them afloat.
He did that alongside his stunning supermodel wife and YouTuber Scarlett Gartmann.
The couple got together in 2015 and married in 2019 - the same year they welcomed their first child before No2 came along in January 2024.
Glamorous Scarlett has modelled for various big-name brands including car manufacturers Hyundai and Volkswagen.
But away from her work, she adores horses and regularly posts on Instagram to her 273,000 followers videos of her riding or tending to the animals - as well as workout videos, photoshoots, holiday snaps and dog content.
Reus remains close to his parents and siblings - literally.
That is because he has each of their initials tattooed on his arm - just four of the various inkings across his body.
Just in case he forgets, Reus has “Marco 31.05.1989” as well as various illustrations including a lion, a flower and half a clock.
He also has Opray Winfrey’s quote “the biggest adventure you can take is to live out your dreams” permanently etched on his skin.
Asked about the artwork, Reus said: “I just love tattoos and I have a good tattoo artist. There’ll probably be some more in the future. It might even become an obsession.”
However, Reus’ life could all have turned out very differently indeed had he pursued his first passion.
Because before he wanted to become a footballer, young Marco dreamed of being a pilot.
He told Bild in 2012: "I've been fascinated by flying since my early childhood.
“Back then I always wanted to become a pilot. I loved flying as a child and still do today."
Instead, though, the flying forward soared in the Dortmund academy - taking flight through the age groups, inspired by a certain Czech midfielder who went on to star for Arsenal.
Reus explained: “My idol was always Tomas Rosicky.
“He used to be phenomenal. He had such a good eye for an opening and knew where his teammates were, and he was so quick.
“Rosicky had great technique and was so intelligent and mature even though he was still young at Dortmund. I copied everything about him, right down to his sweatbands.”
Both Rosicky and Reus left Dortmund in 2006 in very different circumstances - Arsene Wenger snapped up the former while the latter headed to Rot Weiss Ahlen’s second team.
But his strong performances quickly saw him promoted to the first team and then in 2009, Reus signed for Monchengladbach and three years later made his homecoming.
The past 12 years have seen plenty of accolades including two further Bundesliga Player of the Year awards, two German Footballer of the Year gongs and a place in the Champions League Team of the Season.
He was the third player to reach 100 goals and 100 assists in Germany’s top flight and captained Dortmund for five years, forging a special bond with plenty of team-mates over the years marked by his famous custom handshakes.
Reus even beat the likes of Eden Hazard, James Rodriguez and Anthony Martial to be the face of EA Sports’ FIFA 17 cover.
But would the self-confessed Justin Bieber superfan trade that all in for the chance to lead Borussia Dortmund, his beloved Borussia Dortmund, to Champions League glory in his 429th and final appearance?
What do you mean? Of course he would.
