Aubameyang the Only Worry as Borussia Dortmund Look Primed for Bundesliga Start

Borussia Dortmund advanced to the second round of the DFB-Pokal with ease on Monday night, beating Regionalliga side Eintracht Trier 3-0 at the Moselstadion.

The Black and Yellows famously fell to the hosts in the 1997/98 cup season, going out against the then-third division side as UEFA Champions League holders. Rudolf Thommes scored the opener in that game and won a penalty that doubled Trier's lead.

Today, the 47-year-old is an assistant coach at Trier, which prompted Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel to tell German broadcaster ARD before the game he'd prefer Thommes watch the game from the stand, just in case his cup spirit changed over to the underdogs on the pitch.

Those concerns were quickly dissipated, however, with the visitors starting the game at full throttle.

Tuchel had somewhat surprisingly opted for only one change from the team that lost the DFL-Supercup to Bayern Munich a week before, with Andre Schurrle making his full debut instead of Adrian Ramos.

In midfield, it was again a double pivot of Sebastian Rode and Gonzalo Castro, who have their strengths in pressing and counter-pressing and like to make runs into the penalty box, but not in possession. With Trier fielding 10 men behind the ball at most times, Dortmund's midfield selection could have proved problematic had the game been goalless into the second half.

However, it only took the Bundesliga side eight minutes to more or less settle the game. With their goal, the Black and Yellows punished the hosts for their first venture into enemy territory. With two men committed forward, Trier allowed Dortmund to gain ground with quick passing.

Shinji Kagawa, who got the nod in the No. 10 role with Mario Gotze out of the game, played a simple pass out wide to Schurrle. The 25-year-old had acres of space with right-back Florian Riedel engaging the Japanese playmaker far out of his position. His good ball toward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the area was blocked nicely into the path of Kagawa, who had stayed alert and kept his run going.

As the video below shows, it was a nice and easy goal to settle the nerves early in the game:

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Kagawa's opener for #BVB in the #DFBPokal

via: @poordent pic.twitter.com/658Ko0VEQJ

— Onefootball (@Onefootball) August 22, 2016"

As always in these ties against lower-league competition, getting an early goal is crucial, because it almost sucks the air out of the stadium. If Trier had any belief they could manage a sensation and kick Dortmund out of the DFB-Pokal, that hope died an early death.

The Ruhr side were in complete control throughout the 90 minutes, circulating the ball with the required patience to find cracks in Tier's massive defence.

Full-backs Felix Passlack and Marcel Schmelzer moved high up the pitch to allow wingers Schurrle and Ousmane Dembele to drift into positions in the half spaces, while one of Rode and Castro usually moved between the centre-backs Marc Bartra and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

The former Barcelona man especially enjoyed himself on Monday, playing a number of great passes cutting through the lines. Bartra's threading of the needle almost led to an Aubameyang goal, but the Gabon international only hit the post after 20 minutes.

He still was involved in the second goal, however, playing a perfectly weighted ball to Castro despite being under pressure.

The midfielder aimed a driving ball at Schurrle in the box, but the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner didn't get a touch, which left Kagawa with an easy finish from about seven yards out. It was the 27-year-old's first brace in a yellow shirt in four-and-a-half years, as the club's official website pointed out.

Much of the credit belonged to Bartra, who excelled as his team's principal buildup player. His agility and technical qualities already seem to have added another element to Dortmund's play, with the 25-year-old La Masia product interpreting his role even more offensively than Mats Hummels did.

Dribbling high up the pitch against a tiring Tier defence, the €8 million signing (per Transfermarkt, link in German) was involved in many chances in the second period. It's unlikely Tuchel will allow him to be so adventurous in games against better opposition—Dortmund did not always cover his runs defensively—but Bartra helped keep the game interesting when the score was long settled.

Schurrle had added a third goal on the stroke of half-time, thanks to a strong dribble from Dembele, who had done fairly little to that point, and a good cross from Aubameyang.

Despite the scoreline, Tuchel wasn't completely satisfied with the first-half performance, per the club's official website: "We dominated, but we sometimes had difficulties in the opening 45 minutes to increase the tempo and to create chances too. In the second period we had a lot of clear chances, but we were slightly too sloppy in front of goal."

Indeed, although they didn't add another goal, don't think Dortmund let up in the second half. The 42-year-old head coach often talks about his side's professionalism and humility and will have been pleased with the way his team continued to work despite the game being won already.

Substitutes Emre Mor and Ramos saw good chances expertly saved by Trier goalkeeper Chris Keilmann, while Aubameyang twice more hit the woodwork. The Gabonese could be considered the only problem child ahead of the start of the Bundesliga at the weekend.

Having scored twice against FC St. Pauli and once against Manchester United, albeit from the spot, Aubameyang's three goals in pre-season are a somewhat underwhelming figure, considering Dortmund played against a number of lower-league sides.

PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images

The African Footballer of the Year has been on a bit of a cold streak since the start of the year, scoring only seven of his 25 Bundesliga goals last season in 2016. He set a league record by scoring on the first eight matchdays of the 2015/16 campaign, but he looks quite a way off that form.

Of course, it's possible he has got the bad luck out of the way against Trier and will open his account against FSV Mainz on Saturday. He shouldn't be short of service, seeing as players such as Kagawa, Castro and Schurrle displayed good early-season form in the cup.

Overall, Tuchel has to like how his team is shaping up at the dawn of a new Bundesliga season. It was a difficult summer, with no fewer than 13 first-team transfers and a disjointed pre-season with different arrival times for many players following Euro 2016. 

Having dominated Bayern for an hour and taken care of business in a professional manner against Trier in the cup, the Black and Yellows are ready for the league opener.

"We shouldn't get carried away after beating a team from the Regionalliga, but we don't need to disregard the result either," Tuchel said after the game, per the official Dortmund website. "We are content and we feel well-equipped for the tasks to come."

Eighteen-year-old right-back Passlack added, per the club's official website: "When we play in the Bundesliga on Saturday against Mainz, we need to play exactly like we did here tonight but be more clinical with our chances."

Seeing as Mainz only advanced thanks to a penalty shootout against a fourth-division side themselves, beating SpVgg Unterhaching 7-5, Dortmund fans should fancy their team's chances of a strong start to the Bundesliga campaign.

Lars Pollmann also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.