Featured Game – Bayern München 4-2 Borussia Dortmund
The whole world was watching as Matchday 24 served up the second edition of Der Klassiker this season. There was so much on the line as the battles for top spot and the Champions league places would both take exciting new turns as this game was played out. It certainly is not uncommon for a clash between these two giants of German football to have a lot riding on it, usually in trying to split them at the top of the league, with Bayern coming out on top more often than not. However, it was Leipzig that would have benefited most from a Dortmund win, as this would have kept the Red Bulls in first place after they beat Freiburg earlier that afternoon. Despite the eventual score line highlighting the fast-paced contest that it was, with chances a plenty, on face value it could have been easy to assume that Dortmund put up more of a fight than they perhaps have in previous recent encounters with Bayern. In the end, it was the home side who dominated the game in both possession and, drastically, in the shots tally at the end of proceedings as their 27 massively surpassed their opponents’ mere four attempts at goal. Nevertheless, when you have potentially the world’s most promising young attacker in your line-up, as Dortmund do in Erling Haaland, your few offensive efforts can still be converted into goals and this was demonstrated in the game’s opening ten minutes.
In the Bundesliga’s biggest games, it is in a fan’s natural instinct to prepare to strap themselves in for a high-impact game, but even those with their seatbelts fastened the tightest could have easily been caught out by the opening goal after just two minutes. Perhaps it was the fact that Haaland was not in his usual striking position inside the penalty area that also caught out the Bayern back line. As the Norwegian received the ball on the edge of the box, he was afforded too much room by the defenders and he unleashed a venomous drive into the bottom corner. Jerome Boateng made a last-ditch attempt to block the shot, but he only managed to deflect the ball further inside the post and make the task that bit harder for Manuel Neuer in the München goal. It was another early goal conceded by Bayern after slow starts against Bielefeld and Eintracht saw them drop five points in those two games. Hansi Flick has probably been telling his team to stop making it so hard for themselves, because they will always score goals, but it would be much easier to start scoring with the game level than having eat into the opponent’s lead. However, the opening stages of this one were going to get even harder for Bayern as Dortmund soon added a second. Furthermore, what will disappoint the Bayern boss about this goal the most, is that the route was a predictable one for the visitors, with a fast-flowing move culminating in a simple, close range finish for Haaland to stick home. On top of that, is the fact that Dortmund’s usual chief creators were absent from the game – Sancho, Guerreiro and Reyna all side-lined, with the first two picking up knocks in their team’s DFB Pokal clash with Mönchengladbach in midweek, so unfortunately unable to feature in Der Klassiker, but on the basis of the first ten minutes, their exemptions did not seem to be having too much of a negative impact. However, this turned out to just be the calm before the storm for Dortmund.
A real problem that Borussia have had over the past decade or so is that their top players rarely stick around at the club for long, with Bayern feeling the advantage of this more often than not, signing a number of top talents from their rivals including the likes of Mario Götze and Mats Hummels. But the most prominent transfer from Dortmund to München is still having an all too often ill-effect for the Gelbschwarzen. Ever since Robert Lewandowski departed to join Bayern on a free transfer in 2014 after the expiration of his contract, his former team has felt the burden in almost every meeting between the sides since and this occasion was to be no exception. His goal just before the half hour mark was very reminiscent of the one he netted in vain against Frankfurt a couple weeks prior, as some fantastic wing play by Leroy Sané was capped off by a tap home by the Pole. This goal for Lewandowski again reduced the deficit back to 2-1, like in the game versus Eintracht, however the stark difference was that this one would only spark more of a response from the league leaders – a response that was only aided by the away side. As Kingsley Coman carried the ball on the opposite flank to Sané just a few minutes before half time, a lazy leg was stuck out by Mahmoud Dahoud as Coman entered the penalty area. The Frenchman went down following the challenge, but the referee initially took no further action than to wave play-on. After a VAR consultation, however, the judgement was reached that a spot-kick was to be awarded to Bayern, a decision was very hard to argue against. Inevitably, it was Lewandowski who stepped up to take and after his customary stuttered step before the kick, he dispatched into the corner of the net for a level score going into the break.
The second period was very much Bayern’s. The chances continued to arrive for the forwards and at the other end Neuer remained relatively untroubled. The Bayern defensive effort did take a huge boost on the hour mark, however, as Haaland was forced off through a foot injury, to be replaced by inexperienced young striker Stefan Tigges. Tigges has been performing well for Dortmund’s youth team this campaign, but Der Klassiker is quite a different challenge altogether. The worry for Dortmund coach Edin Terzic now will be the fitness of some of his top players, with Haaland and Sancho potential doubts for the second leg of his side’s Champions League tie with Sevilla. The lack of an attacking outlet was more than evident in the remainder of this clash with Bayern as well. Each time the ball went forward, Tigges was incapable of getting back let alone keeping possession for the visitors when faced with some of the Bundesliga’s best defenders and certainly the quickest in Davies and Alaba especially. In terms of Dortmund’s rear guard, which has looked shaky at the best of times as of late, they did nothing much more than survive until the latter stages of the game, however the strain did eventually become all too much as Leon Goretzka took Bayern’s best chance of the half on the volley in the 88th minute. It was fabulous finish from a Bayern perspective, but a heart breaking one for the away team who’s brilliant first ten minutes were still not enough to get them anything from the game. Their fate was sealed just two minutes later, as Robert Lewandowski completed his hattrick in injury time with an accurate finish from just outside the area. The Dortmund defence had all but given up by this point after the crushing late winner from Goretzka and could do nothing to prevent an even later fourth goal. Lewandowski had the option to lay the ball of to Thomas Müller on the right-hand side for an easier shot at goal than the Pole had, but there was no chance of him passing up the opportunity to net a third against his old club and he backs himself all the way from any position in and around the area. The ball nestled nicely in the far bottom corner to take Lewandowski’s tally to an almost incomprehensible 31 Bundesliga goals in a mere 24 games. Mind-blowing!
Rest of the Round-Up
Schalke 0-0 Mainz
The definition of a relegation six-pointer with both teams desperate for a win. However, the balance of play suggested that both teams were even more desperate to just not lose and the game offered up little drama in the way of chances. Nevertheless, it was an interesting watch and even though the probability of a goal was slim, you simply never know in football and especially in the Bundesliga. Arguably the most entertaining part of the game arrived in injury time, when new Schalke coach Dimitrios Grammozis seemed to forget how to make a substitution. Strangely, with only a couple of minutes left in the contest, the manager prepared four substitutes to come onto the field, despite already making three. He may have got confused about the new rule for this season, allowing five substitutes per game and this was his first game coaching under this new allowance. What is perhaps even stranger though, is that when he was told that he could obviously not make four more changes, he only introduced one new player in the end, despite having two left. It was all very peculiar, much like his new team’s performance this campaign.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Stuttgart
Dropped points for Frankfurt meant that they could not regain third spot in the table from Wolfsburg and the home side might just regret their missed chances. They may also regret the fact that Filip Kostic had a goal ruled out for a very tight offside in the build-up of a really nice team move culminating in an accurate finish from the Serbian. What would have been even more frustrating for Eintracht is that they allowed Sasa Kalajdzic to put Stuttgart ahead against the run of play. The Austrian has been in spectacular form in front of goal, and he helped his club get a valuable point on a tough away day that saw them overtake Gladbach in the league standings. It may have been more than a solitary point if it was not for the rapid response from Eintracht. Kostic did get his goal, fully legitimately this time, with a very similar strike to his disallowed one less than a minute after conceding.
Freiburg 0-3 RB Leipzig
The home team from the Black Forest have been really impressive this season so far and a number of great displays sees them currently eighth in the Bundesliga, however they were played off their own pitch when they hosted Leipzig. To be fair, they did not have quite the incentive that their visitors did for this one, with the win putting RB into top spot for the couple of hours or so before the Bayern game. Goals from Nkunku and Sørloth set the ball rolling and the away side’s victory was sealed ten minutes from time by Emil Forsberg, with a nice left-footed drive from the edge of the penalty area. Although they do not end the matchday in pole position, they are in scintillating form and will hope to get all three points in the next two rounds to put real pressure on the champions before they welcome the Bavarians to Red Bull Arena on April third.
Hoffenheim 2-1 Wolfsburg
This was perhaps the most surprising score line of the weekend, as Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels conceded for the first time in over six hours of game time. Even a first goal in three games for Wout Weghorst could not prevent Hoffenheim from taking the spoils, as the big Dutchman returned to form. However, the more notable forwards in this game were wearing the blue of the hosts. Christoph Baumgartner has just signed a new Hoffenheim contract and he celebrated this by netting on nine minutes, before Andrej Kramaric regained the lead for his side just before half time. Like Weghorst, this was the Croatian’s first goal in three.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Some erratic form for Leverkusen had seen them slip out of the top four, so a win away from home in Gladbach was really big. The game did not serve up as many chances as the teams’ respective attacks may have suggested, however Patrick Schick struck when it mattered for the visitors with a quarter of an hour to go. His goal saw the home side suffer their third straight loss, and this campaign is really starting to go downhill for Borussia after such a good display last season that saw them end up in the Champions League places.
Hertha Berlin 2-1 Augsburg
When Laszlo Benes fired Augsburg in front after just two minutes in this one, Hertha may have thought that their wretched home form would continue. However, they really picked up in the second half and they equalized through Krzysztof Piatek’s first headed goal in the German top-flight. That set up the winner for the capital club, when they were awarded a penalty in the 89th minute. Although Piatek has previously scored Bundesliga penalties, he was told by Belgian substitute Dodi Lukebakio that he was confident that he would notch from twelve yards and it was he who indeed did slot home coolly to hand Hertha Berlin a much-needed win in their quest to avoid the drop.
Köln 1-1 Werder Bremen
The home team had much more of the ball in this game than their opponents and would have been annoyed to see Josh Sargent stick into the back of the net just after the hour. Köln are sitting precariously just two places above the drop zone so needed to stop a three-game losing streak, therefore their fans would have been ecstatic to see their captain Jonas Hector returning from injury as he entered the fray juts five minutes after conceding. Hector is not a prolific scorer, playing predominantly as a defender, but he netted a vital goal towards the end of this one to rescue his side a point like all good captains do when their team really needs them.
Arminia Bielefeld 0-0 Union Berlin
The last game of the weekend was not much more entertaining than the first played in Gelsenkirchen. Nevertheless, Arminia will see any point gained against a team in form like Union are as a valuable one as they aim to get out of the relegation play-off spot. Although, they did have to survive a few half-chances for the away side, the most presentable of which fell to the feet of 23-year-old Japanese midfielder Keita Endo, but he failed to convert.