Adrian Ramos Proves His Worth in Runaway DFB-Pokal Win for Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund's fans would have been forgiven for thinking their team could have been taking SC Paderborn too lightly when they looked at the teamsheet before the DFB-Pokal match on Wednesday. Leaving out in-form striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his 20 goals in 17 appearances this season could have been interpreted as playing with fire.

But, like many decisions new head coach Thomas Tuchel has made since his arrival at the club this summer, this one worked out perfectly.

Tuchel took the opportunity to give a first start of the season to Adrian Ramos, and the 29-year-old paid him back big-time.

It was Ramos' first appearance in a starting XI in almost 11 months, with his last start coming in December of 2014 against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. 

The Colombian had yet to eclipse 27 minutes of playing time in any game this season, so to thrust him into the starting lineup against Paderborn was not without risk.

Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press

Ramos came to Dortmund alongside Ciro Immobile in the summer of 2014, with the unenviable task of replacing the imperious Robert Lewandowski in the heart of the BVB attack. A total of 16 goals and eight assists for Hertha Berlin in the 2013/14 campaign was enough of a reference for Dortmund to pay €10 million for the services of the Colombia international.

With the emergence of Aubameyang as Dortmund's main striker, however, opportunities for Ramos have been few and far between. He has played in 41 competitive games for the club but only spent 1.180 minutes on the pitch, according to Transfermarkt.de.

That actually makes his statistics somewhat impressive, since it equates to roughly 13 games of 90 minutes Ramos has under his belt for Dortmund. In this context, eight goals and four assists is not too shabby.

The game against Paderborn served as a reminder of why the black and yellows got Ramos in the first place. He was agile, made a lot of runs, was available to his team-mates and, most importantly, got on the scoresheet.

In the 25th minute, Gonzalo Castro played in Ramos with a beautiful, outside-of-the-boot through ball that split the defence. Ramos kept his calm, carefully rounded 'keeper Lukas Kruse and slotted home, cool as a cucumber.

"The countless fistpumps tell you just how much the goal meant to the striker" wrote ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko, who rated Ramos 10/10 for the night.

Five minutes later, he returned the favour, setting up Castro's go-ahead goal.

It was arguably Ramos' best performance in a Dortmund shirt since his second game for the club, a 3-1 win over SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga in September of 2014, when he also scored Dortmund's first and assisted the second only a few minutes later.

The almost sheepish Colombian seems like a player who needs confidence and trust even more than most strikers, and Wednesday's game could go a long way in setting him up to belatedly succeed at Dortmund.

Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press/Associated Press

Nevertheless, Ramos has some appeal as a super-sub, as evidenced by his three goals in last year's Champions League against RSC Anderlecht and Galatasaray, for which he only needed 33 minutes of playing time.

His emergence as a viable alternative to Aubameyang would be most welcome for Tuchel, as the Gabon international is one of the irreplaceable players who will decide the fortunes of the club this season. Aubameyang has already played 1,414 minutes this campaign—almost half a Bundesliga season. With Dortmund's busy schedule until the winter break in mind, the club should take every opportunity to rest him.

If German tabloid Bild is to be believed (h/t Jack Haugh of Vavel.com), Ramos was close to leaving the club in this summer's transfer window, with Sunderland a possible destination. Dortmund may still decide that the Colombian isn't the kind of player they want backing up Aubameyang.

It would render Wednesday's game against Paderborn a reminder of what could've been. At the very least, Ramos' performance has put him in a good position to show the club he has what it takes and that he can be the second striker they need.

Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.