Scouting Borussia Dortmund Youngsters Dzenis Burnic and Jacob Bruun Larsen

If there is a positive in an injury crisis at a football club, it is that it allows young players to gain valuable experience they otherwise would have struggled to make.

For Borussia Dortmund, some fans feared ahead of the season that a shopping spree in this summer's transfer window could crowd the depth chart too much for the homegrown talents to make their mark under head coach Thomas Tuchel.

And, for a while, it seemed as though Felix Passlack and Christian Pulisic, the club academy's two crown jewels, would not get company from other players who are still eligible to play for the under-19 team that is attempting to defend last season's Bundesliga championship.

Then came a veritable injury crisis, however, and two youngsters got their feet wet with Tuchel's senior squad. Dzenis Burnic only came on in added time in the first meeting with Sporting CP in the UEFA Champions League, but a debut is a debut. 

Fellow 18-year-old Jacob Bruun Larsen even got to start in his professional debut, when Dortmund were out of wingers due to injuries and illness to Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele in the DFB-Pokal against Union Berlin.

Deniz Calagan/Getty Images

It is not surprising that these two followed in the footsteps of the American international and Passlack. Both Burnic and Larsen have played in a number of first-team friendlies and were always likely to make the next step at some point. The personnel situation merely accelerated their development.

With that in mind, Bleacher Report takes a closer look at what the two newest members of the Black and Yellows have to offer on the pitch.

Positional Fits

Burnic replaced Passlack at left-back against Sporting, when the more experienced of the two 18-year-olds suffered from cramps. One could argue it is only his fourth-best position, as Burnic has a lot of versatility.

For the under-19 team, the Germany youth international most often plays in central midfield, from where he is influential in all areas of the game. He can also play a more defensive role in midfield, as a holding midfielder.

Under Tuchel, he spent most of his time at centre-back during the summer. That may well have been down to the fact that Dortmund were without veteran options Sven Bender and Matthias Ginter due to their commitment to play for Germany at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, however.

TF-Images/Getty Images

Burnic does not seem to have the necessary physicality to survive at the heart of defence at professional level—even though the position has gone through a bit of a change over the last few years, allowing more technical players with vision and passing skills to play at centre-back to help out in the buildup phase.

His best positional fit is probably at the base of midfield as a deep-lying playmaker. Out wide, a lack of dynamism and pure speed make him less than a perfect fit for a role at full-back or as a true winger.

For Larsen, the exact opposite is the case. His best attribute is his lightning pace, combined with a well-developed body.

The tall 18-year-old looks the part of a professional football player and does hold up well against more senior competition. He did not look out of place in Brazil during the summer, where he represented Denmark in the Olympics.

Apart from his start in the cup, when Tuchel told German broadcaster Sky he chose Larsen because he wanted a specialist on the wing, he has also played full-back for the first team in friendlies. Seeing as he is almost an old-fashioned, fairly linear winger, that may be his best position for the Black and Yellows.

His recovery speed and knowledge to use his body as an advantage in duels, as shown in the video below, make him a good fit for a full-back role:

WyScout

Larsen may just be the next converted full-back at the Westfalenstadion, joining a list that already contains players such as Kevin Grosskreutz, Erik Durm, Passlack and even team captain Marcel Schmelzer.

Strengths

Apart from his versatility, Burnic offers good technical quality on the ball and the ability to dissect opposing defensive lines with good vision. 

As these images from last season's Bundesliga championship game against 1899 Hoffenheim show, the 18-year-old can rely on his technique even in tight spaces deep in his own half. One weighted forward pass after his turn and Dortmund are on a dangerous counter-attack:

WyScout

WyScout

A staple of Burnic's play from deep midfield zones is a long, arching ball toward either sideline. Dropping ahead of the centre-backs early and often to have the whole field in front of him, he effortlessly shifts Dortmund's possession outside to give width, allowing the team to attack in numbers.

Even though he is not the quickest player by any stretch of the imagination, he can make stretching runs into the half-spaces like a box-to-box midfielder at times. Burnic has the intelligence to take a measured approach as to when he steps up. His vision not only helps his passing, it also allows him to understand spaces on the pitch well for such a young player.

Larsen, on the other hand, seems to be a less cerebral, more instinctive player who trusts in his legs more than his mind. His quickness is almost impossible to match at the youth level.

Scoring 17 and assisting 21 goals over 39 matches at the under-19 level for Dortmund, per Transfermarkt.com, his effectiveness cannot be denied. It would be unfair, however, to assume Larsen will lose that scoring touch by default when he moves up to the professional level on a permanent basis at the end of the season.

In his debut against Union, it was Larsen who created Dortmund's goal. Even though it was an unsuccessful cross that defender Michael Parensen deflected into his own net, the 18-year-old earned the goal with a positive run into the box when his team were in desperate need of any kind of spark.

As most young players, the Dane will struggle to make the right decision from time to time, but he has the right instincts around the opponent's goal, not only in terms of his solid finishing skills.

As shown below in a clip from the Olympics, Larsen has the general awareness a winger needs to have:

WyScout

Weaknesses and Future

Burnic does not show any major weaknesses in his game. He can be a bit rash in his challenges and made the decisive mistake in a UEFA Youth League defeat against Sporting last Wednesday, when he carelessly lost the ball in his own half, but that seems like a problem that will go away with more experience.

Luca Gierl noted for The Yellow Wall, Burnic "tends to demand the ball very aggressively, sometimes coming too deep into his own half and too close to his own centre-backs to receive the ball," thus "closing passing lanes for his own team, while taking away a chance for himself to get between the lines of the opponent."

A certain lack of patience would also seem like a problem that will not present itself at the next level too often. More than anything, the question is whether Burnic is more than a jack of all trades. With a squad so full of individual talent as Dortmund's, the 18-year-old may lack a defined role.

In a perfect world, he develops into a capable back-up and eventual replacement for Julian Weigl, the team's metronome in defensive midfield who will likely move to one of European football's giant clubs at some point.

Larsen's weaknesses are more visible, on the other hand. His first touch and technique in general are probably not up to the Black and Yellows' standards for attacking players.

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Tuchel only rarely sets up his team with linear wingers, rather Dortmund's wide men often drift in and out of the half-space. That fluidity requires a certain level of football intelligence Larsen has so far not shown. 

If the 18-year-old sees himself as an attacker down the road, chances are he will have to find playing time elsewhere than the Westfalenstadion. He has potential at full-back, but Passlack's presence presents a challenge in and of itself: Can Dortmund afford to develop two teenagers at the position?

Lars Pollmann also writes for The Yellow Wall. You can follow him on Twitter.