Christian Pulisic, Borussia Dortmund's Second String Excel in Blowout Victory

In an impressive reaction to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at RB Leipzig on the previous Bundesliga matchday, Borussia Dortmund followed up their biggest UEFA Champions League win with another humdinger of a performance.

The Ruhr side matched Wednesday's 6-0 victory at Legia Warsaw in front of their own fans against SV Darmstadt on Saturday.

The box score will tell readers that the Black and Yellows exploded in the second half, with five goals coming after the break, but, if truth be told, the hosts were in complete control throughout the 90 minutes. As soon as Gonzalo Castro scored the first goal in the seventh minute, it felt like the game was over.

The club's Twitter account summed up the first-half action with one poignant picture:

The Lilies did their best Legia impression, in that they gave Dortmund acres of space to pass and dribble their way into the danger zone and, if not for some wayward finishing and good saves from goalkeeper Michael Esser, the result could've been disastrous for the underdogs with the entire second half to play.

The only way the visitors tried to combat Dortmund's sparkling onslaught was with a seemingly never-ending barrage of fouls—which led to the sending-off of team captain Peter Niemeyer for a wild tackle on Adrian Ramos in the 57th minute.

The hosts were lucky to escape the match without any injuries and gave the right answer on the pitch, playing hapless opponents out of their shoes almost every time they moved the ball into Darmstadt's final third.

What's most impressive about the result is that the Black and Yellows did it with a lineup that we can safely call a B team, as Marc Bartra, Mario Gotze and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were rested with the busy schedule in mind—Dortmund are in the middle of a run of seven matches in 21 days between two international breaks—while Andre Schurrle and Lukasz Piszczek missed the game with slight injuries.

To the credit of back-ups Matthias Ginter and Ramos, as well as rotational players such as Castro, Felix Passlack or Christian Pulisic, there was no discernible drop in performance compared to the gala display of the Champions League. 

In fact, the entire second string performed incredibly well, with Castro scoring a brace, Pulisic scoring and setting up two more, while Ramos and substitutes Emre Mor and Sebastian Rode opened their accounts for the season as well.

The performance of the second string is clearly the main takeaway from a perfect afternoon in Westfalenstadion, even though man-of-the-match honours probably belonged to Raphael Guerreiro.

PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images

The 22-year-old proved his strong game against Legia wasn't a fluke with another all-action effort from central midfield. It will have fans of the Black and Yellows salivating at the prospects of the Euro 2016 champion playing next to a fully fit Gotze at some point in the near future.

A €12 million summer signing that's already looking like a huge bargain, Guerreiro masterfully pulled the strings, impressing both with his passing and nifty dribbles to evade the occasional pressure Darmstadt tried to put on Dortmund deep in their own territory.

He may not have been directly involved in any of the six goals, but the former FC Lorient man was pivotal in instigating attacks time and time again, thoroughly deserving an early substitution after 63 minutes.

It would have been easy for his team-mates to let up in the final half hour of a match that was decided already, with Dortmund three goals and a man up on a Darmstadt side that begged for the final whistle. It's testament especially to the joy and exuberance of the young Black and Yellows that the hosts didn't take their foot off the gas.

Pulisic was particularly lively, dominating his matchups, mostly against full-backs Fabian Holland and Florian Jungwirth, at a whim, running right at—or, rather, right by them—at full speed, playing cutback passes or crosses with delicately weighted touch.

The United States international has made the most out of two consecutive starts in the Champions League and the Bundesliga, turning in strong performances ahead of his 18th birthday on Sunday.

Against Darmstadt, Jurgen Koers of local paper Ruhr Nachrichten (link in German) rated Pulisic and Weigl as the best players on the field with a grade that translated to nine out of 10.

With some fans voicing concerns about the purportedly bleak prospects of the Hershey, Pennsylvania, native after Dortmund brought in three wingers over the summer, 180 minutes in four days should go a long way in soothing them.

Another area of concern, albeit of a different sort, was also addressed by a strong performance. With many fans not overly convinced of his qualities, Ramos' strong showing should earn him some trust as the back-up to superstar Aubameyang.

Playing against these ultra-passive opponents can be challenging for strikers, so it's worth pointing out that the Colombian not only scored a goal, he also was active in other aspects.

The important opener was only possible because he had the vision to spot Ousmane Dembele on the left wing, as well as the presence of mind to play the pass at the exact moment the Frenchman was level with Darmstadt's last defender.

Per WhoScored.com, the 30-year-old paced the team with five shots, and he could conceivably have scored a hat-trick but for a strong performance from Esser and some bad luck. Fans may not like it, but, as far as back-up strikers go in the Bundesliga, Ramos holds up well in comparison.

Per Spox.com's Jochen Tittmar (link in German), the former long-time Hertha BSC striker has been involved in 10 goals in his last 14 matches, which is all the more impressive considering he often comes off the bench for rather short substitute appearances.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel has to be pleased with Ramos and his entire second string. The team still has much jelling to do after a summer of upheaval saw eight new faces coming in to the squad, so it must be considered an encouraging sign that the 43-year-old can trust his entire squad.

"

Thomas Tuchel has NEVER lost a Bundesliga home game as @BVB manager:

WWWWWWWDWWWWWWWDWWWWDWW

Wins: 20
Goals: 67 pic.twitter.com/sPk2A25H9Q

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) September 17, 2016"

Tuchel told a press conference (link in German) after the game that the team has to keep improving, astutely pointing out that the Black and Yellows have merely lived up to their status as heavy favourites in the two hammerings of Legia and Darmstadt.

It's true that most of the caveats that were issued after the Champions League opener still apply after Saturday, especially with what looks like a difficult trip to VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday, but that shouldn't take anything away from a brilliant week for Dortmund.

Lars Pollmann also writes for the Yellow Wall. You can follow him on Twitter.