Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has come out of obscurity to turn into one of the Bundesliga's most effective strikers. With 39 goals in all competitions this season, he has put himself above every other Borussia Dortmund player and become their most killer man inside the box. For German manager Ottmar Hitzfeld, his prowess will be an important trump card for Borussia Dortmund in the next Pokal final. Apart from the impressive line-up that Pep Guardiola had at his disposal throughout the season at Bayern, it's important to point out how well the Dortmund offensive side played during the whole year.
It's safe to say that the two most offensive teams in Germany will duke it out at the Pokal final, because Dortmund are not that far from Bayern's goal tally. Analyzing the team in yellow, Hitzfeld spoke to Omnisport and said: "I want to emphasize that the offense of Dortmund played sensationally this season. With Aubameyang, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, [Shinji] Kagawa, [Marco] Reus… it was fantastic to watch and for sure, when you lose some pressure, everybody ceases a little bit, also Aubameyang did.
"But nevertheless he played a fantastic season, scored 25 goals, lots of dribbling. He's lightning-fast, is able to show his jumping power in the box on headers. He can go one-on-one, is a bit faster than [Bayern striker Robert] Lewandowski. And I'm sure, that Aubameyang will burn again in the cup final."
"Thomas Tuchel is used to facing Bayern with Dortmund," he said. "He will adjust his team to be aggressive, he'll try to force Bayern into defending because they have problems there. If you just try to defend, you'll be crushed by Bayern's playing, art and their pressing. So you have to try to generate pressure on them by yourself because in the defense, Bayern has their problems – especially in getting hit by counter-attacks. With quick attacks on both sides, try to put pressure on them with Dortmund's full-backs, go on one-on-one. Then Bayern has problems, like the most teams would also have. And Dortmund probably will try to make use of that."
Photo credit: Borussia Dortmund