MONCHENGLADBACH, Germany -- Mario Gotze said he's happy to be playing alongside of Marco Reus and Andre Schurrle as Borussia Dortmund narrowly beat Monchengladbach 1-0 on Sunday for their third league win on the bounce.
It was the first time that Gotze, Reus and Schurrle were together in the starting lineup for Borussia Dortmund, as several injuries sustained by all three players prevented them from starting together for one and a half seasons.
"When all three for us are fit and playing together, then it's very good for the entire team," Gotze told reporters after the match. "We understand each other well on and off the pitch and that makes the difference. It worked very well today and we are already looking forward to playing together in the next games."
The three friends linked up for BVB's goal in the 31st minute with Gotze playing a long diagonal ball to Schurrle, whose square into the box was picked up by Reus to set up an excellent strike that caught goalkeeper Yann Sommer too far off his line.
Reus, who had only played 97 minutes with Gotze prior to Sunday's match since his return to BVB from Bayern in 2016, revealed that it pained him to not link up with his friends more often.
Football pitch in the Bundesliga. Gladbach vs Dortmund later. #bvb