Nervous Sahin happy to be home

Turkish international Nuri Sahin says he felt very nervous ahead of his Borussia Dortmund comeback in a friendly match against Mainz.

Sahin capped his return to the club with a full 45 minutes on Sunday as Dortmund beat Mainz 5-4 on penalties in the final of the Winter Cup.

The 24-year-old departed the Bundesliga for Real Madrid in the summer of 2011, signing a six-year contract.

However, he returned to the German champions in January on an 18-month loan, with the option of a permanent deal after failing to secure regular first-team action at Liverpool, following his loan move from Madrid at the start of the season.

“I was really nervous ahead of the match against Mainz,” Sahin told Bild.

“That’s pretty unusual for me to be honest.

“It reminded me a bit of my official debut for Dortmund at the age of 16.

“All the nerves were gone after about five minutes or so, though.”

Dortmund, who are 12 points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich in third position, resume Bundesliga action on January 19 when they travel to struggling Werder Bremen.