Thomas Tuchel's Tactical Surprise Pushes Borussia Dortmund to DFB-Pokal Semis

When supporters of Borussia Dortmund learnt of head coach Thomas Tuchel's lineup for the DFB-Pokal quarter-final clash at VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday evening, many of them will have hesitated.

The XI included only two changes from the goalless draw at Hertha BSC at the weekend, but those changes looked peculiar.

Matthias Ginter replaced Julian Weigl in defensive midfield, which wasn't so crazy considering the latter's performances in recent weeks.

Tuchel told German broadcaster Sky before the game that he preferred Ginter's freshness and athleticism for a game that he envisioned to be physical.

Michael Probst/Associated Press

The more interesting change concerned Erik Durm as a left-winger. The 2014 FIFA World Cup winner made his first start at a position other than full-back for the Black and Yellows since his promotion to the first team in 2013.

Tuchel told Sky that Dortmund would need to change the way they play based on Stuttgart's style, but it wasn't immediately clear what he meant.

That changed quickly after kick-off, however. Not only did he make the two personnel changes, he also changed his team's setup in a number of spots.

Full-backs Lukasz Piszczek and Marcel Schmelzer positioned themselves much deeper on the pitch than usual, likely to be as added protection against the hosts' strong counter-attacking. The wingers provided width, which explains why Durm was a good fit for his coach's plan.

On the other side from the 23-year-old was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose speed tied up Stuttgart's left-back Emiliano Insua. That left Filip Kostic isolated on the left wing, where Piszczek had him largely under control for most parts of the game. Marco Reus played as the central striker in Aubameyang's place and eluded his markers to great effect time and time again.

Most importantly, however, Tuchel's tactical surprise freed up Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan to roam in the half-spaces of midfield. 

PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images

The former initiated the opener with a pass to Aubameyang, whose ball across the face of goal somewhat luckily bounced to Reus. A smart finish high into the net gave Dortmund the lead after just five minutes, which obviously played into the visitors' game plan.

Gundogan, on the other hand, might not have been involved in either of the three goals, but he still bossed the match and was a class above everyone else.

ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko, who rated Gundogan's performance at 9/10, wrote: "It was nearly impossible to steal the ball off him; even up against two or three Stuttgart players Gundogan found a way to flee the scene untouched."

The Swabians never got a hold of him, which was a huge help for Dortmund after their performances in the last two Bundesliga games against FC Ingolstadt and Hertha, where effective man-to-man marking stifled the Black and Yellows.

Tuchel's plan not only worked offensively, but also when Stuttgart had the ball. The hosts, who came into the game as the in-form team of the Bundesliga, having won their last five in a row, didn't create many clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

The attempts that did find the target came almost exclusively from set pieces, among them an equaliser, where the Black and Yellows failed to clear the ball away a number of times before Mkhitaryan deflected a Lukas Rupp shot into his own net.

Tuchel hailed his team's performance after the game, per the club's official website, saying that "under the difficult conditions and given the situation we were facing, we put in an almost perfect performance—with a perfect result."

THOMAS KIENZLE/Getty Images

Going forward, it remains to be seen whether this is the Plan B we called for after the Hertha game. It seems more likely that this was a one-time event for the specific opponent on Tuesday.

Stuttgart were on a roll coming into the game and are a dangerous counter-attacking team, so widening the play and conceding possession to the hosts in the second half, when the hosts had up to 70 per cent possession, per German TV channel Sky Sport News on Twitter (link in German), worked very well.

That same plan won't fit many other opponents the Black and Yellows will face in the coming weeks, however.

Still, it was a great sign that Tuchel's surprising tweaks worked out so brilliantly. After all, it kept the supporters' dreams of a third consecutive trip to the cup final in Berlin alive.

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