Breaking Down What Role Moritz Leitner Will Play for Borussia Dortmund in 2016

The story of the forgotten man's rise from the ashes is perhaps one of the worst cliches in sports, but that doesn't mean there are no cases where that description fits the bill.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Moritz Leitner seemed to be one of those cases during the winter break.

After spending a grand total of 10 minutes on the pitch in the first half of the season—he came on as a substitute in two UEFA Europa League matches where head coach Thomas Tuchel rotated his squad heavily—not many will have expected the 23-year-old to make any sort of impact in the Dubai training camp.

But Dortmund's No. 14 made the most of a chance that wasn't there, as Tuchel put it, per Jan Reinold of sport magazine Kicker (link in German), and reminded fans why he was highly touted when he came to club as a teenager in 2011.

He played well in the three friendlies against Eintracht Frankfurt—where he was probably the best player on the pitch, as YellowWallPod.com's Luca Gierl noted—South Korean champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC and Sparta Prague before the Bundesliga restarted at the weekend.

"

Moritz Leitner looks like he's by far the best player on the pitch. Maybe not super telling in a game like this but still kinda interesting.

— Luca (@luc_bvb) January 15, 2016"

Because of that, he'll surely have hoped to be included in the 18-man squad in the league for just the second time all season after sitting on the bench for 90 minutes in the final game of 2015, at FC Cologne.

Leitner did get a chance to play at the weekend—but in the wrong game for his liking.

He started with Dortmund's back-ups, convalescents and academy players in a friendly at Union Berlin on Sunday. The Black and Yellows' second and third stringers won 3-1 (goals by Christian Pulisic and Adrian Ramos, who scored a brace) and Leitner looked good once again.

However, the fact that he didn't make the squad for Saturday's Bundesliga encounter with Borussia Monchengladbach doesn't bode well for his chances with the first team in the near future.

In essence, Tuchel chose 17-year-old Pulisic over Leitner for the more important of the weekend's two games, which means he doesn't view the latter as a viable alternative on the wings. Since that's the only spot where the Black and Yellows' squad is dangerously thin, it would've been the 23-year-old's best shot at playing time.

He'll struggle to find opportunities at his natural position in central midfield, where he's buried on the depth chart behind the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Shinji Kagawa and Gonzalo Castro.

Considering Kagawa missed a number of training sessions with a stomach bug in the week leading up to the Gladbach game, per Florian Groeger of local paper Ruhr Nachrichten (link in German), the fact that Leitner still didn't make the squad is telling.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

It was always going to be an uphill battle for Leitner in his second stint with the Black and Yellows. He spent two forgettable years on loan at VfB Stuttgart, and it was largely regarded as a given that he'd leave the club in the summer.

With that in mind, being close to the squad is already a success for the former Germany under-21 captain. Tuchel also singled him out in an interview with German TV station ZDF after the 3-1 win over the Foals, saying that it was difficult to leave him out of the squad, so his chance may still come.

Boris Streubel/Getty Images

If he uses that chance, Leitner's career at Dortmund might yet come good. A creative passer with good technique, he could even factor in for the long term: Should Gundogan leave the club in the summer—his contract runs until 2017 and Dortmund would need to sell this year to get a fee—Leitner could be one part of a contingency plan.

Essentially, he has half a season to show Tuchel and BVB's other decision-makers that he can play a role at the club.

If nothing else, Leitner's encouraging performances in the four practice matches will have put him back in the minds of other Bundesliga clubs. Even if he doesn't make it with the Black and Yellows, he's certainly talented enough to help other teams.

Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.