Bartra: Dortmund boss Tuchel could someday coach Barcelona

Thomas Tuchel has what it takes to manage Barcelona, according to one of the club's former pupils.

In their few months together, the Borussia Dortmund boss has impressed defender Marc Bartra, who left Catalonia for the Bundesliga last summer after his €8-million release clause was activated.

Batra's made 16 starts so far under Tuchel, playing in both a back three and back four. Though Dortmund's struggled in the league, slumping to sixth place after 16 matches, it managed to fend off Real Madrid and top Champions League Group F.

The Spaniard's now had enough time to assess Tuchel's ever-changing tactics - he's used anything from a 4-1-4-1 formation to a 3-2-4-1 over the course of the campaign - and there is apparently sufficient evidence to link Jurgen Klopp's successor with the Barcelona job.

"I don't know what will happen in the future, but he has the profile (to coach at Barcelona)," Bartra told Diario Sport, as reported by ESPN FC's Samuel Marsden. "Training (with Tuchel) has a style similar to sessions at Barca, with similar drills."

The 43-year-old is a disciple of Pep Guardiola's possession-based football, and he has turned Dortmund into an attacking juggernaut in the two years he's had at Westfalenstadion.

BVB set a Champions League group stage record with 21 goals in six matches - a benchmark once held by Guardiola's Barcelona.

"Above all, I've adapted so well because the level of play and the style is so similar to what I've been used to with Barca and Spain for so many years," added Bartra, who joined the Blaugrana as a 12-year-old and later graduated from the club's famed La Masia academy.

Dortmund returns to action Jan. 21 with a trip to 15th-placed Werder Bremen.