Gotze doesn't travel for Dortmund's trip to Real Madrid

Mario Gotze was unable to travel with his Borussia Dortmund teammates on Tuesday while he deals with a "minor knee complaint."

The stocky midfielder will therefore be unavailable for Wednesday's Champions League group tilt at Real Madrid, but is still in contention to feature in Saturday's Bundesliga trip to FC Koln.

Although Gotze, 24, had opportunities in the Dortmund first team diminished by some calf and knee issues, he has still made eight league appearances since his summer return from Bayern Munich, and performed well in his previous four continental outings.

Gotze will miss out on potentially creating history for his employer in the Spanish capital. Not only would a draw be enough to finish above Real Madrid in Group F, but Dortmund is just one goal shy of reaching 20 - a feat only achieved by the midweek opponent, Manchester United, and Barcelona in the competition's history.

The bewildering 8-4 defeat of Legia Warsaw last time out put Thomas Tuchel's side well on course for this benchmark.

"That would top off this outstanding opening round in the Champions League," said sporting director Michael Zorc. "It would be the icing on the cake."