Lineups: Berlin vs. Dortmund

With Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang out due to bone splinters, Thomas Tuchel went attack-heavy nonetheless with his lineup selection for the DFB-Pokal semifinal:

BVB XI to face Hertha BSC: pic.twitter.com/xd9pu2tNyy

— BVB UK (@DortmundUK) April 20, 2016

İlkay Gündoğan starts from the bench as he continues to work his way back from the layoff that prevented him from starting against Liverpool (throws salt over shoulder). In his stead, Gonzalo Castro and Shinji Kagawa patrol the middle of BVB's 4-3-3. Castro isn't a like-for-like switch by any means, and Dortmund will undoubtedly push hard for possession high up the pitch with the two attacking midfielders in the middle. Christian Pulisic, Nuri Sahin, Sokratis, Moritz Leitner, and Erik Durm are all bench options on the day as well.

Hertha are enduring a rather miserable last quarter to their campaigh, as the sterling defending that enabled their rise to third place has lagged, exposing their mediocre goal-scoring record on the season. They'll line up as follows:

Brooks starts for Hertha Berlin; Pulisic on bench for BVB. 2:30pm ET ESPN3https://t.co/hOTARlkIx0 #USMNT #DFBPokal pic.twitter.com/Z1cB9jTVb4

— Roderick MacNeil (@rodmacneil) April 20, 2016

Dortmund's defense will need to be wary of Kalou and Ibisevic as ever, but it's a rather tame looking squad against Dortmund's attacking might. It will be up to the Black and Yellows to maintain control of this game and not let the pressure down if they go up (as they should). Echte Liebe.