Stuttgart vs. Borussia Dortmund: Winners and Losers from DFB Pokal

Borussia Dortmund reached the semi-finals of the 2015/16 DFB-Pokal season on Tuesday, beating VfB Stuttgart away from home, 3-1. 

It was a thrilling game that showed everything that makes the cup great. Dortmund were the better side by some margin, but the hosts were always in the game and looked dangerous even though they didn't create many clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

Marco Reus opened the scoring for the Black and Yellows inside five minutes after Stuttgart failed to clear a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pass across the face of goal.

The two combined for Dortmund's second just after the half-hour mark, with Reus setting up the Gabonese.

Lukas Rupp had equalised for Stuttgart in the meantime, after BVB's defence failed to get the ball away following a corner. Henrikh Mkhitaryan deflected Rupp's shot, which left goalkeeper Roman Burki with no chance to save his side.

Mkhitaryan later made amends for his miscue, scoring the third goal in the 89th minute.

With the win, the visitors advance to their third semi-final in as many years. They will await their fate with eagerness—the draw will take place after Wednesday's round of matches.

Stuttgart, meanwhile, won't be too disheartened. They gave an inspired performance and have nothing to be ashamed of. The Swabians showed why they're the in-form team of the Bundesliga.

Here, B/R picks the winners and losers from this exciting cup tie.

Winner: Ilkay Gundogan

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The only way to stop Ilkay Gundogan was to take him down.

He might not have been involved with either of the three goals, but there is no doubt that Ilkay Gundogan was the best player on the pitch. 

His display, especially in the first half, was breathtaking, as football writer Ross Dunbar tweeted at intermission: "Some half. Aubameyang's finish is immense. Running out of superlatives for Gundogan, though. Fantastic player."

The Germany international absolutely bossed the game, skipping past opponents with great technique and agility, while distributing the ball without any mistake.

Local paper Ruhr Nachrichten rated him as the joint-best player on the pitch alongside Aubameyang, with a grade that translates to 9/10 (link in German).

Loser: Kevin Grosskreutz

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Kevin Grosskreutz struggled with Erik Durm for large parts of the game.

It's difficult to pick a loser, since both teams played well, but if there is one individual player who fits the bill, it's Kevin Grosskreutz.

The longtime Dortmund man struggled with Erik Durm, who somewhat surprisingly played on the wing for large parts of the game. Also, he was at least partly at fault for the first goal, where he seemed to have lost his bearings a bit while moving into a centre-back spot, which left Reus wide open at the far post.

It was a highly emotional game for Grosskreutz, who correctly stated after the game that his side didn't put in a bad performance, per UEFA.com on Twitter (link in German).

Still, if there was one game he desperately wanted to win, it was this one against his boyhood club.

Winner: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang likes playing against Stuttgart.

In our preview to the game, we mentioned that Aubameyang was running hot and cold to start the new calendar year and that he hadn't scored away from Signal Iduna Park since November.

We probably can't take credit for lighting a fire under him, but he certainly looked like a man on a mission against the Swabians.

He played out wide for large parts of the game, only permanently moving to his usual spot in the middle of attack during the second half, but that didn't keep him from being the most dangerous man on the field.

His assist for Reus' opening goal was a tad lucky, but there was no luck involved with his own goal. No, it was a thumping left-footed effort from outside the penalty box which left former team-mate Mitch Langerak in Stuttgart's goal no chance.

The Gabon international has now scored in seven straight DFB-Pokal games, further extending a club record, per stat provider OptaFranz on Twitter. Also, as Twitter account bvbstuff pointed out, he's scored six goals in six matches against Stuttgart.

Loser: Daniel Didavi

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Daniel Didavi didn't have the best of evenings against Dortmund.

The one player who was so instrumental in VfB's great run of form in recent weeks but didn't reach those heights against Dortmund was Daniel Didavi.

In the 64th minute, Stuttgart had one of their best passages of play that ended in goalscorer Rupp finding Didavi all by himself at the edge of the box. Maybe the attacking midfielder was still in Super Bowl mode, because his shot would've been good for a 40-yard field-goal attempt—so high did he sky it.

That scene was somewhat exemplary for the 25-year-old's evening. It was just not his game.

Winner: Marco Reus

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Marco Reus had a number of reasons to celebrate on Tuesday evening.

As he so often does, Reus scored the all-important first goal of the game. It was the 21st time Dortmund's No. 11 opened the scoring for his side since he joined the Black and Yellows in 2012.

His assist for Aubameyang's goal was just as sweet, with his delightful pass into his team-mate's path weighted to perfection.

Reus later set up a number of further opportunities that Dortmund wasted. He lamented that fact after the game, telling German broadcaster Sky that his side should've made better use of many counter-attacking situations in the second half, per Ruhr Nachrichten on Twitter (link in German).

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