Analysing the Importance of Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Borussia Dortmund

Saturday's goalless draw between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich provided another reminder of just how important Henrikh Mkhitaryan is to the Black and Yellows.

The Armenian's performance mirrored that of his team: very good in the first half, underwhelming in the second.

ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko rated Dortmund's No. 10 seven out of ten and wrote: "In the first half it looked as if this was to be Mkhitaryan's night. He was everywhere on the field and Bayern's players could not get a grip on Mkhitaryan," adding that "he still tried to take on the world" in the second half, "but was no longer on top of the situation."

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In the game against the Bavarian giants, the 27-year-old didn't play in his usual spot in Dortmund's attacking trio.

As Spielverlagerung.com's Tom Payne pointed out, he played more centrally with Erik Durm providing width on the right wing: "Now with much more space and in a more central role, he could cooperate with teammates to a much higher level and use his high intelligence to create connections, combine with teammates and create strong micro-structures within the Dortmund shape."

It's no surprise that Mkhitaryan was involved in almost every dangerous situation his side conjured up against the table-toppers in the first half.

The video Payne tweeted below shows how effortlessly the Armenian created space for himself and got his team out of a tough spot, and this happened time and time again in the first 45 minutes:

As Mkhitaryan faded in the second period, so did his team. That's not a coincidence.

The 27-year-old is the only part of the attacking trio—consisting of him, Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang—who has preserved his incredible form from the first half of the season to this point.

Whereas the German, who had a very quiet game against Bayern, with only 24 touches in his 80 minutes on the pitch, per WhoScored.com, and the Gabonese, who it feels like has missed more sitters in the 11 games of 2016 than in the Hinrunde, are very much running hot and cold, Mkhitaryan has remained at the top of his game.

Dortmund's different approach to games since the turn of the year hasn't interfered with his ability to be a threat. Head coach Thomas Tuchel regularly uses three at the back in buildup play, with the right-back—mostly Lukasz Piszczek—staying much deeper than his counterpart on the left side of the back line.

This shift has led to a drastic reduction in turnovers, which was imperative after Dortmund conceded about one-third of their goals following counter-attacks in the first half of the season, per Thomas Hennecke of sport magazine Kicker (link in German).

However, Payne noted on Tuchel's shift: "The greater stability-focus results in a less threatening build-up and Dortmund have found greater difficulty in breaking through the lines of opposition pressure in recent weeks.

With that in mind, the Black and Yellows have relied heavily on moments of individual brilliance, and no one has provided more than Mkhitaryan. His goal against Hannover, for example, broke the deadlock in one of Dortmund's least inspired performances of the season:

His otherworldly numbers—19 goals and 23 assists in 39 appearances across competitions, per Transfermarkt.co.uk—are one thing, but just as important is the manner in which he handles himself.

Tuchel declared his affection for his playmaker in an interview with German broadcaster Sky before the game at the weekend, saying it was inevitable that he and his staff would fall in love with the player and person Mkhitaryan is.

As Deutsche Welle's Jonathan Harding observed during that game, the 27-year-old is more than just a very good player for Dortmund:

All that puts the Armenian's contract status in focus. He still hasn't signed a contract extension with the Black and Yellows, and his current deal is set to expire in 2017. He told B/R in February that "you can never say 'yes, I want to stay' or 'yes, I want to go,' so we'll just have to wait until the summer and see what'll happen."

The supporters will anxiously await his decision. Dortmund simply can't afford to lose their player of the season so far.

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