Christian Pulisic Steals Spotlight as Borussia Dortmund Cure European Hangover

For 35 minutes of Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga encounter with Hamburg on Sunday, the Black and Yellows didn't look like they had worked through their grief after a demoralising midweek loss.

Despite only three players—Mats Hummels, Gonzalo Castro and Shinji Kagawa—keeping their spot in the starting XI from the disastrous collapse against Liverpool in the UEFA Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, Dortmund didn't come out "brimming with confidence," as Castro observed after the game, per the club's official website.

It was a conscious decision from head coach Thomas Tuchel to play with such a changed lineup, not only to prepare for the DFB-Pokal semi-final against Hertha BSC on Wednesday, but also to play with a team that wouldn't suffer from a European hangover too much.

A few eyebrows will have been raised looking at a starting XI that included 17-year-olds Felix Passlack and Christian Pulisic, who both made their first starts in front of 81,000 fans at Signal Iduna Park:

However exciting it was to see the club's future on the pitch together, the first 35 minutes of the game were boring. Hamburg had two chances to score the opener, but, if truth be told, the match was a snoozefest.

It exploded to life when Sven Schipplock dallied on the ball after a Sven Bender blunder, allowing Hummels to recover and make a goal-saving tackle:

Just a minute later, Pulisic took centre stage.

Thanks to a lovely pass from Hummels, the United States international found himself in the box after a corner with a sight on goal, took one touch to get past his marker—Schipplock, of all players—kept his cool and slotted home.

The opener made Pulisic the fourth-youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history, and the youngest born outside of Germany:

Dortmund's No. 22 had looked lively throughout the eventual 3-0 victory, but the slow pace of the match didn't help him one bit. A quick player who likes to take on defenders in one-on-ones, Pulisic would've looked even better if his team had played with faster transitions, giving him some space to work with. As it was, he often received the ball in static situations and failed to beat defenders with crosses.

Passlack, who played left-back in the first half, made no overlapping runs behind his fellow 17-year-old, as was his job. He told German broadcaster Sky in a double interview alongside Pulisic after the game, per the club's official website, that his "task was to prevent the counter-attacks and the direct play" into Hamburg's attack.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

The Germany under-18 international showed his promise in the second period when he played in a more attacking role on the right wing, where he could've won a penalty shortly after kick-off.

The spotlight belonged to Pulisic, however, for whom the last few months must feel like a dream.

Having only moved to the first team on a regular basis in the winter training camp in Dubai, the American has now appeared in 10 matches at the senior level, making starts in important games against Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke before his full home debut on Sunday.

Having scored his first professional goal for Dortmund two-and-a-half weeks after making his debut for the United States—a fact that wasn't lost on the club's Twitter account—Pulisic was "lost for words" and couldn't "really explain" his feelings following the goal, per ESPN FC's Stephan Uersfeld. 

"I am just happy. It's a great feeling to have scored my first competitive goal. It's just outstanding," Pulisic continued.

The 17-year-old showed a lot of promise in all of his appearances this season, often coming close to getting a first assist or even scoring himself. Having now opened his professional account, expectations will inevitably rise. Pulisic seems prepared, however. 

"We've got many good players, I can't make any claims," he said. "I am just happy about every minute I can be on the pitch."

Just as much as his sky-high talent, it's this down-to-earth attitude that makes the future so bright for young Christian Pulisic. And, with that, for Borussia Dortmund.

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