Dortmund bring momentum into Hertha game

Peter Bosz has done his best to help fans of Borussia Dortmund move on from the club's messy divorce with Thomas Tuchel.

Dortmund have impressed so far under their new head coach. They suffered an unfortunate loss in the German Super Cup to Bayern Munich but defeated Wolfsburg on the opening matchday of the Bundesliga season with the same ease they handled sixth-tier Rielasingen-Arlen in the first round of the German Cup. 

Read more: Excitement builds after just an hour of Mario Götze

Bosz has thus far gotten Dortmund on the right track. He seems to have already tapped the potential of Christian Pulisic and Dan-Axel Zagadou while simultaneously helping oft-injured Mario Götze and Nuri Sahin refind their form.

This has all transpired while the departure of Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona was being sorted out.

Making a winning start to the season with that saga in the background should alone earn Bosz applause from the Signal Iduna Park crowd when Dortmund host Hertha Berlin this Saturday.

A budding star

Pulisic, 18, is a big reason why the Dembele distraction has not affected Dortmund on the field. The United States winger scored against Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup and had a goal and an assist against Wolfsburg last weekend.

Dortmund have always had a knack for developing their own talent - Götze, Sahin and Marcel Schmelzer for instance.

But Pulisic is a home grown talent that could make one of their best players expendable, which is something that hasn't happened since Götze replaced Shinji Kagawa after Kagawa's move to Manchester United in 2012.

Opinion: Christian Pulisic proves no Dembele, no problem

Bosz has given Pulisic the freedom to use his creativity at will. He and Götze were the key creators against Wolfsburg and the reason why the Wolves' defense stood no chance in stopping Dortmund's attack.  

'A completely different Dortmund'

But Hertha have been a thorn in Dortmund's side since Pal Dardai took the reins at Hertha in 2015.

Dortmund have failed to beat Hertha in the Bundesliga over the last season and a half, valuable results Hertha have used to catapult themselves back onto the European stage - Hertha will play in the Europa League group stage after finishing sixth last season.

But their Dortmund success came while Tuchel was in charge, and now there is a new man in town.

Though the Bosz era is not even two months old, Dardai knows he is not facing the same team.

"Now we have a completely different Dortmund. They have a completely different plan," the Hungarian told a press conference on Thursday.

Elsewhere on Matchday 2

-      Werder Bremen look to end their 13-game losing streak against Bayern Munich when they host the defending champions on Saturday.

-      Newly appointed Heiko Herrlich makes his home coaching debut as Leverkusen host Hoffenheim, who suffered a big defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday.

-      Stuttgart and Hannover play their first Bundesliga home games after both spent a year-long hiatus in the second division.

Matchday 2 Fixture List

Cologne 1-3 Hamburg 

Werder Bremen vs. Bayern Munich (Saturday, 15:30 CET)

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Wolfsburg

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hoffenheim

Augsburg vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach

Stuttgart vs. Mainz

Borussia Dortmund vs. Hertha Berlin (Saturday, 18:30 CET)

RB Leipzig vs. Freiburg (Sunday, 15:30 CET)

Hannover vs. Schalke (Sunday, 18:00 CET)