What Is Borussia Dortmund’s Best Starting XI Right Now?

Six competitive matches into the 2016/17 season, Borussia Dortmund’s start to the campaign can be considered fairly successful.

A loss in the DFL-Supercup against longtime nemesis Bayern Munich didn’t reflect the Black and Yellows’ superiority in the game, while a 3-0 victory over Regionalliga side Eintracht Trier could easily have looked more impressive in the box score if not for some bad finishing luck for the Ruhr side.

Their Bundesliga campaign started with two deceivingly tough matches against high-pressure teams Mainz 05 and RB Leipzig, with a 2-1 home win followed by a 1-0 loss in Saxony—a result that presumably won’t look too bad down the road if the promoted side continue their strong start to the season.

Dortmund’s reaction to the disappointment against their fans’ object of hate could hardly have been more convincing, as they beat both Legia Warsaw in their UEFA Champions League opener and SV Darmstadt on Saturday 6-0. The beatdown of the Hessians was especially impressive considering head coach Thomas Tuchel used the game for some rotation.

Four days. Two games.Twelve goals. Ten different goalscorers.@BVB love winning big. pic.twitter.com/TPDzgzANvq

— DW Sports (@dw_sports) September 17, 2016

The 43-year-old is already reaping the benefits of the unprecedented depth the club acquired over the summer. Against Darmstadt, Dortmund were without the injured Marco Reus and Andre Schurrle, while Tuchel also left Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mario Gotze on the bench—that could well be his first-choice attack in some games this season.

The Black and Yellows didn’t miss a beat and showed their gaffer that he can trust in his second string, an important factor as Dortmund navigate a tight schedule throughout the year.

For the big games, of course, Tuchel will likely have a first-choice XI in mind. How might that look? Bleacher Report breaks it down below.

Before looking at personnel, however, comes the formation. After struggling in the buildup phase against Mainz and Leipzig, Dortmund opted for a 4-1-4-1 alignment in both blowout wins, looking far more structured on the ball with Julian Weigl as a main passing hub in front of the defence.

Julian Weigl, if you want to isolate one name from this very strong passing collective.#passmap #BVB pic.twitter.com/n2UBb7zXkR

— 11tegen11 (@11tegen11) September 14, 2016

The 21-year-old told Spox.com’s Jochen Tittmar (link in German) after the Champions League match that he likes playing as the lone holding midfielder because it allows him more space, and the assumption is that Dortmund will continue with that strategy.

Defence

Goalkeeper Roman Burki hasn’t had many opportunities to show his qualities as a shot-stopper so far. He has, however, showed an improved accuracy in his passing, per WhoScored.com, completing almost 85 per cent of his passes in the Bundesliga compared to 73.3 per cent last year. Of course, the sample size is almost negligible after only three matches.

The Switzerland international should benefit from playing in Europe’s premier competition for the first time—it’s easy to forget that he’s relatively young for a ‘keeper at a top club at 25 years of age.

Ahead of him, three spots in the back line seem cemented for the time being. Team captain Marcel Schmelzer and centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos are the only players to start all six matches of the campaign, while summer signing Marc Bartra partnered with the Greece international before getting a rest at the weekend.

The Masia graduate hasn’t quite followed up his impressive performances in pre-season and against Bayern in terms of his distribution from the back, but the partnership with Sokratis has looked steady in defence. 

Matthias Ginter replaced Bartra against Darmstadt and played well in the absence of a modicum of danger from the visitors, while …

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