Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus made his return to the Bundesliga scene against Hamburg on Saturday afternoon after another long battle back from injury.

Reus has cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines since the serious knee ligament injury he sustained in BVB's DFB Cup final win over Eintracht Frankfurt last May.

After eight months of gruelling recovery, BVB's agent provocateur-in-chief is back — bundesliga.com has highlighted some of the reasons we should all be excited about seeing Reus on the pitch again. Well, all of us who aren't Bundesliga defenders…

1) More goals with Reus

Reus has that happy knack of being a player who can turn games, breathing life into them with a moment of brilliance that gets fans on their feet. Of his 56 Bundesliga goals for BVB, 25 of them have given his team that all-important 1-0 lead while in the 2016/17 season, Die Schwarzgelben boasted 17 shots per game with Reus in the side, three more than when he was missing.

Unsurprisingly, they also scored more goals, finding the net on average 2.2 times per 90 minutes with Reus on the pitch last term.

Watch: Marco Reus' best strikes of the 2016/17 Bundesliga season!

2) Big-game player

Bundesliga fans flock to stadiums every matchday in their hundreds of thousands to be entertained, and in Reus, the German top flight has one of the world's very best footballing showmen. His 56 goals in 125 Bundesliga outings for BVB show that there is significant substance to his style too, while the 42 assists he has registered in the same time frame are proof of a selfless spirit who does not want to hog the limelight.

- © imago / Laci Perenyi

Still, sometimes it is hard to avoid being the centre of attention when you have the big-game stats Reus boasts. He has been involved in nine goals, scoring five, in 14 meetings with Bayern Munich — that's something for the Bundesliga champions to consider ahead of Der Klassiker at the Allianz Arena on Matchday 28.

Last season BVB picked up over two points a game on average with Reus in the line-up, 1.7 without him. They'll need a reborn Reus to be on song with Peter Stöger's men still to go to Mönchengladbach, Leipzig and Schalke in the Rückrunde with Augsburg, Frankfurt and Leverkusen coming to the Signal Iduna Park.

Watch: See how Reus handles the pressure when he's on a clock!

- © Alexander Hassenstein

4) Great timing for Germany

Reus knows a thing or two about timing, and not necessarily just the positive aspects. There is nothing wrong with his sense of when to release a pass, take a shot or make a run, but when it comes to injuries, Lady Luck could have picked her moments far more happily for the former Borussia Mönchengladbach prodigy.

- © imago

His ankle injury days before the 2014 FIFA World Cup was the heartbreaking cloud over Germany's win, his groin gave way before UEFA EURO 2016, while the Confederations Cup was endured in the wake of knee surgery.

Now in his late 20s and — theoretically — at the peak of his football powers, his return to fitness is, for once, timely, ahead of Russia 2018. If he gets back to somewhere near his best, Reus will surely be in Joachim Löw's squad to defend their world crown. Keep your fingers (and everything else) crossed…

Yes, Jadon Sancho, who has also suffered an injury, may find establishing himself in the starting XI tougher with Reus back. There is no doubt, however, the former Manchester City youngster will benefit from seeing the Germany international in action on the pitch, and Reus will perhaps even have some words of advice for keeping sane in the treatment room.

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