The Best Moments of Mario Götze's Career at Borussia Dortmund

Some may look back on Mario Götze's career to date with a sense of 'what could have been'.

But the player unhelpfully lumbered with constant comparisons to Lionel Messi can point to a myriad of spell-binding performances, a healthily stocked trophy cabinet and the only goal of a World Cup final - while still only 27.

Götze joined his boyhood club Borussia Dortmund as a ten-year-old, spending the best part of a decade in the first team across two spells in Black and Yellow - with a controversial three-year sojourn at Bayern Munich sandwiched in between.

Yet, it's been confirmed that his time at the Westfalenstadion will come to a close this summer, ending a career in Black and Yellow littered with memorable moments.

Borussia Dortmund Debut

It may have been in the final two minutes of a forgettable goalless draw at home to Mainz, but Götze ranks those precious debut seconds in a Borussia shirt alongside the most famous moment of his career.

Writing in the Players' Tribune, Götze admitted: "I’m sure people will watch the World Cup goal for the next 100 years, and that’s very special, of course. But that first step onto the grass at the Westfalenstadion is just as memorable for me."

First Bundesliga Title With Borussia Dortmund

The 18-year-old Götze missed just one league game as Jürgen Klopp took BVB to their first title in nine years, playing an aggressive, full-throttle, high-pressing style.

Klopp has famously claimed that there is no greater playmaker than an effective press but Götze did his best to prove the manager wrong, laying on a staggering 15 assists that campaign.

Golden Boy Award

A few months after lifting the Bundesliga, Götze had an individual trophy of his own to thrust into the air as he joined the likes of Lionel Messi, Cesc Fàbregas and Sergio Agüero in winning the Golden Boy award.

German League and Cup Double

Götze, and Dortmund's, second consecutive league title eclipsed the previous season's triumph as it was claimed with a then record points haul and accompanied by victory in the DfB-Pokal.

Dortmund's midfielder did miss a significant chunk of the campaign with injury but before this absence he managed to bundle in the only goal of the game at Bayern's Allianz Arena - ensuring a win which would prove pivotal in the final standings.

Partnership With Marco Reus

After a particularly impressive display against Ajax during the club's run to the 2013 Champions League final - a 4-1 win which saw Götze and Reus have a hand in all four goals - Franz Beckenbauer purred: "At Barcelona Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi are building a triangle. But as a classic duo there is nobody better than the prolific Reus and Götze."

The pair both started in Dortmund's youth system but Reus moved to Rot Weiss Ahlen in search of first team football as a teenager. After his return in 2012, they linked up superbly for a season before Götze moved to Bayern that summer.

However, the blonde duo - which have inspired fan fiction along with roars from the crowd - were reunited in 2016 when Götze rejoined to the Black and Yellows. The World Cup winner puts their relationship on the pitch down to their bond off of it, explaining: "I consider us really good friends and that's why we understand each other so well."

Return From Illness

At just 19 years of age Götze had begun to suffer muscular injuries requiring lengthy spells on the sideline - an issue which would punctuate his entire career. But in February 2017, now in his second spell at Borussia, the club announced that the source of these recurring injuries was a rare metabolism disorder.

This ruled him out for the rest of that campaign but after 167 days on the sidelines, Götze came on in the 61st minute of a pre-season friendly. While he hasn't been able to definitively put these struggles behind him since, this relatively rapid return was seismic display of his resolve.