Gotze, 25, made his comeback for Borussia Dortmund in a friendly against Urawa Red Diamonds on Saturday, after over five months on the sidelines because of a metabolic illness.

Having only returned to the Westfalenstadion from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2015, Gotze made just 16 appearances for the club before being ruled out for the rest of the season in late February.

Speaking to Perform Media the Germany international looked back on a difficult season, not only for him but also the club, in which BVB's team bus was attacked, their Sudtribune was shut down for one match because of fan trouble and after which head coach Thomas Tuchel was sacked.

"There were a lot of things which overall weren't easy to handle," Gotze said. "The squad and club did a super job as a collective. In the end, we all rewarded ourselves with the DFB Pokal and directly qualifying for Champions League. Thus, it was a very, very good season, and now we want to step up our game."

But when asked about former coach Tuchel, Gotze only acknowledged that it "worked out very well looking at the overall result," adding that they were only able to lift the trophy in Berlin because of a team effort.

"[Tuchel] demanded a lot, but although it wasn't always easy with him for the team and the players, we won the DFB Pokal and showed great quality," Gotze said. "But we all know that we can still get better."

However, Dortmund will be without Sven Bender, who left for Bayer Leverkusen last week, and the midfielder has now told Funke Media Group that he switched clubs to win more minutes after making just eight appearances in the last of his eight seasons with BVB.

"I wouldn't say I was unhappy [at Dortmund]. But there is one thing I didn't do that often recently: To be out there on the pitch," Bender told Reviersport, adding that "at Dortmund it was often the case that it was said I was injured, but I wasn't injured. I just didn't get a chance."

When asked whether Tuchel was to blame for his lack of opportunities, Bender replied: "That's in the past now. I don't want to comment on it."