3 Borussia Dortmund Players Whose Stock Tumbled in 2015/16 Season

The dust is slowly settling on Borussia Dortmund's campaign. A heartbreaking loss on penalties in the DFB-Pokal final against bitter rivals Bayern Munich on Saturday meant the Black and Yellows finished another season without any silverware, but it still was a successful first campaign under new management.

However, even in a strong year for the Ruhr side, there were players who fell behind during Thomas Tuchel's first season in charge. They played smaller roles than in years past for one reason or another and could be facing an uncertain future at the club.

Here, Bleacher Report picks three players whose stock tumbled in the 2015/16 season.

Neven Subotic

One of the longest-serving players for Dortmund, Serbian defender Neven Subotic undoubtedly had his most difficult campaign since making the move from Mainz in 2008. Playing in only 11 of a possible 56 matches across all competitions, the 27-year-old found himself surplus to requirements before a thrombosis in his arm cut his campaign short in April.

It was the second season in three years that he couldn't finish, having suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the 2013/14 campaign—even in that season, though, he played in 16 matches, despite missing more than the final two months.

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Subotic has fallen down the depth chart behind team captain Mats Hummels, with whom he had partnered for many years as the first-choice centre-back pairing; Sokratis Papastathopoulos; and even Sven Bender, who successfully converted from his natural position in defensive midfield.

A fan favourite, it seems likely Subotic has played his last game for the club. Sebastian Wessling of sport magazine RevierSport (link in German) reported in April that a reunion with his mentor Jurgen Klopp could be on the cards in the summer.

Joo Ho Park

South Korea international Joo Ho Park was one of two signings late in the summer window, coming to Dortmund two days before the club signed Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj on loan. Much like the former whiz kid, 29-year-old Park has been a massive disappointment for the Black and Yellows.

Brought in as important full-back depth when it became clear Dortmund would be without versatile 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Erik Durm for a few months following knee surgery, Park looked like a good fit. Tuchel had worked with him at Mainz, and he displayed an impressive versatility that earned him a comparison to Philipp Lahm by Rene Maric of tactics blog Spielverlagerung.de (link in German) in 2014.

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It started well enough for the defender, who assisted a goal and scored the winner on his debut in the UEFA Europa League against Krasnodar. After that, however, he faded into obscurity, playing in only eight more games during the entire campaign. 

His season was cut short as well, as a foot injury sidelined him for the last four weeks. He was barely missed, however harsh that may sound, seeing as he last played for Dortmund on the first matchday of the second half of the season on January 23.

Nuri Sahin

Unlike the two players mentioned above, Nuri Sahin's season didn't end with an injury, but it started with one. A somewhat mysterious tendon irritation kept the Turkey international out until February, when he returned with a bang against Porto in the Europa League.

"The boss is back," left-back Marcel Schmelzer posted on Instagram after a strong performance from 27-year-old Sahin in Dortmund's midfield, and it looked like the club had gotten a welcome reinforcement during the campaign.

Michael Probst/Associated Press

In the following weeks, however, Dortmund's No. 18 showed some rust and played only in relatively meaningless games where large parts of the first-choice XI got some well-deserved rest. Sahin played only 45 minutes in the Europa League quarter-finals against Liverpool and didn't see the field at all in the DFB-Pokal final on Saturday, arguably the club's biggest games of the season.

The emergence of Julian Weigl has rendered Sahin a back-up for the foreseeable future, but unlike Subotic and Park, the Turkey international should have a future at the club. Staying healthy and getting in shape would do wonders for the 27-year-old, who's only played in 21 games in the last two seasons.

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