Felix Passlack Is the Heir Apparent to Lukasz Piszczek for Borussia Dortmund

When Bayern Munich’s new head coach Carlo Ancelotti learned of Borussia Dortmund’s lineup for the DFL-Supercup on Sunday, the highly decorated Italian may well have hesitated a moment. At right-back for the Black and Yellows, the teamsheet listed Felix Passlack.

Now, that isn’t to say that the 57-year-old doesn’t prepare properly, even though the game is barely more than a glorified friendly, but it probably still came as a surprise to see an 18-year-old starting the game over veteran full-back Lukasz Piszczek.

With the Bavarians deploying arguably their best left-wing combination of David Alaba and Franck Ribery, it would have been understandable had Passlack struggled a bit in his first start at right-back at the senior level.

What actually happened, however, was an encouraging performance Dortmund fans will have gladly noticed. Head coach Thomas Tuchel had only two words on his impressive youngster, per the club’s official website: “Very good.”

Most onlookers agreed with the 42-year-old. ESPN FC’s Stefan Buczko rated Passlack’s performance at eight out of 10, noting that he “turned in a very mature performance in the right-back position” and “reaffirmed his strong showings from the friendlies.”

Matthias Dersch of local paper Ruhr Nachrichten (link in German), meanwhile, ranked him as the top outfield player for the Black and Yellows on the day, arguing it was Passlack’s best showing at the professional level to this point.

Somewhat surprisingly, it was the Germany youth international’s defensive stability that impressed fans and analysts alike, not necessarily his contribution to a Dortmund attack that could—and perhaps even should—have won them the game.

Even at 33 years of age, Ribery remains a daunting matchup even for experienced defenders, so seeing Passlack dominate the Frenchman was fairly impressive. Whether it was shoving him off the ball, putting his body between Ribery and the ball or winning sprints against the winger, Passlack dominated.

He frustrated his opponent so much with his physicality that the Bayern star lashed out at him with his elbow shortly before the half-hour mark, which, there can be little doubt, should have led to a sending off.

This is the coming together which saw both Ribéry AND Passlack booked (@amadoit__) pic.twitter.com/CM6wNqWIdT

— Onefootball (@Onefootball) August 14, 2016

“There could not be a better compliment for Felix Passlack [than] when such a player commits violent conduct,” team captain Marcel Schmelzer said after the game, per ESPN FC’s Stephan Uersfeld.

To the 18-year-old’s credit, he didn’t allow the incident to get into his head. He kept on playing in the same aggressive way that had infuriated Ribery in the first place. That goes for his defensive work and, less surprisingly, for his attacking contribution …

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