Mateu Morey has been under contract with Borussia Dortmund since July 2019. Nevertheless, last Friday was his very first home game in front of over 80,000 spectators in Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park. A magical evening for the Spaniard.
In his first two seasons at BVB, Bundesliga football was still clearly influenced by the corona pandemic. All 18 Bundesliga appearances that Morey played between 2020 and 2021 before his injury odyssey took place in front of empty stands.
After the right-back was forced to watch for two and a half years due to several serious knee injuries, the time had finally come last Friday. He came on as a substitute in the 88th minute in the Black and Yellows’ 3-0 home win against SC Freiburg and celebrated his return to exuberant applause and a standing ovation from the BVB fans.
“This day was incredibly good, it will always remain in my heart!”, the 23-year-old was still completely excited the day after his comeback game in an interview with BVB club media.
Morey sees BVB “on the right track”
After his long period of suffering, including several operations and months of rehabilitation programs, Morey is very proud to have actually made it back into the Dortmund professional squad: “I thought about it for two and a half years. I wanted to enjoy this moment and with the fans celebrate. I am very grateful to all the fans.”
On Friday, Morey was also the “unsung hero” of the evening for his teammates, as BVB coach Edin Terzic put it.
The defensive player himself now wants to focus on the sporting tasks and soon recommend himself for a possible starting eleven: “I worked so much for this moment, in the end I made it. Now it’s time to keep working. We are on a very good path in the new year.”