Messi's poor form was mainly due to his long journey.
He had flown all the way from Europe to Japan to represent Argentina in a friendly against Japan, only to lose 0-1.
...
On the evening of October 20th, at Dortmund's Westfalen Stadium.
In the third round of the Champions League group stage, Dortmund hosted Spartak Moscow.
Just three minutes into the match, Dortmund intercepted the ball on the left side of the midfield and quickly launched a counter-attack.
Schmelzer passed the ball to Reus, who was ahead of him.
Little Rocket took the ball and tore down the pitch, driving straight at Spartak Moscow's left flank.
Under pressure from a defender, he passed the ball across to Götze and started a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area.
Götze sent a through ball ahead, into Reus's path, attempting a one-two.
But unexpectedly, Spartak Moscow's right-back got there before Reus, sliding to block the pass.
