Key talking points from Borussia Dortmund’s victory over Schalke

Christian Pulisic: The Substitute

Its incredible to think that just one year ago, Christian Pulisic was starting almost every game for Borussia Dortmund. Both under Peter Bosz and Peter Stöger, Pulisic was a mainstay in the starting 11, a creative force setting the Bundesliga alight. This season, however, he has fallen behind both Jadon Sancho and Jacob Bruun Larsen in the pecking order, coming on in the 87th minute to replace the Danish international in one of the biggest games of Borussia Dortmund’s season.

Its even more incredible to think that just this past summer, Bruun Larsen could have been sold to Stuttgart for 12 million euros in the summer, and now he’s responsible for benching one of the brightest talents to come from Dortmund’s academy in recent years. It would seem that under Lucien Favre he has lost a guaranteed spot in the team, which will certainly make fans wonder why this is and what the future holds for the young American, especially with transfer rumors linking him to both Chelsea and Liverpool seemingly rampant in the past few weeks.

Overall impression

Despite all of the positivity to be taken from this performance, it still needs to be said that the game could have been won by 3 or 4 goals had the attack not been a bit wasteful. A common trend for some time now, the finishing still needs to be improved on slightly so that results are put to bed in a convincing fashion.

Both Marco Reus and Raphaël Guerreiro had solid chances to kill off the game, with the Dortmund captain having a very good opportunity saved by Ralph Fährmann, and Raphaël Guerreiro seeing his shot deflected off of the left post in the 84th minute.

Having said this, however, I am happy with the result and the fact that we are capable of taking points in these difficult and decisive games. Each point will matter in the coming months, and will decide whether or not this will be Dortmund’s long awaited season of glory.