Reus to miss two games after Revierderby red card

Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus has been handed a two-game suspension following his red card against Schalke, while team-mate Marius Wolf will miss three matches for his dismissal in the same fixture.

Reus was sent off for a lunge on Suat Serdar after an hour of Dortmund’s home Revierderby defeat to Schalke, before Wolf saw red for a challenge on the same visiting player five minutes later.

However, the DFB has ruled that Reus should get a lighter punishment than Wolf due to the intent of his attempted tackle.

DFB sports court chairman Hans Lorenz said: “These similar cases differ in that Marco Reus wanted to play the ball, whereas Marius Wolf did not [try to] play [the] ball. [Wolf] had no chance to reach the ball with his tackling.”

Team News : Marco Reus and Marius Wolf have been given two and three-match suspensions, respectively, for their red-card challenges on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/Z39Qv1XOQl

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) April 29, 2019

The two-match ban means Reus will be available to return to action before the end of the Bundesliga season, missing fixtures against Werder Bremen and Fortuna Dusseldorf but free to feature at former club Borussia Monchengladbach, where Wolf will still be absent.

Saturday’s 4-2 reverse saw Dortmund miss the opportunity to put pressure on league leaders Bayern Munich, although the champions’ subsequent draw at Nurnberg left them just two points clear.

Reus apologised to his team-mates for leaving Dortmund a man short against Schalke, acknowledging that his incident was a “clear red card”.

Meanwhile, Dortmund coach Lucien Favre raged that the interpretation of the handball rule is becoming “ridiculous” after a VAR review saw Julian Weigl concede a penalty earlier in the match.