Messi is an example to follow, says Reus

The Germany international believes his Borussia Dortmund team-mates must emulate the Barcelona star's consistency on the pitch, and is looking forward to facing Shakhtar Donetsk

Borussia Dortmund attacker Marco Reus has hailed Barcelona star Lionel Messi for putting in quality performances on a regular basis.

The Bundesliga champions slipped 12 points behind Bayern Munich this season, and the former Gladbach man says his side must emulate the Argentine's consistency.

"Messi is a good example," the 23-year-old told Kicker. "He has had great games and scores in La Liga on a regular basis.

"We have to do the same, however, we weren't able to do that every week. We aren't machines and therefore, we do make mistakes.

"We do know that we didn't have the best first half of the season. But complaining and pondering would not be appropriate in this situation."

Dortmund face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League round of the 16, and while Reus is wary of the threat the Ukrainians pose, he believes the opponents would have preferred to draw another team instead.

"It goes down to -20 degrees occasionally there, doesn't it? Of course they're a difficult opponent. On the other hand, they probably wished for any team but Dortmund for their next fixture.

"We have earned a lot of respect [in Europe]."

BVB get back to Bundesliga action with a trip to Werder Bremen on Saturday.