A tactically brilliant, high intensity affair ended with both sides unable to capitalise on several chances, as Bayern’s visit to Dortmund ended 0-0 in Saturday’s highly anticipated Bundesliga showdown.
BVB were entering the biggest game of the Bundesliga season on a high after winning against Darmstadt while resting several key players, in addition to the massive favor that Mainz did them by beating Bayern 2-1. Suddenly, we had a title race.
Two different halves – an entertaining opening
It only took five minutes for the game to come alive, as a dangerous Douglas Costa cross was dealt with clumsily by Roman Bürki, who punched it straight onto the right foot of Müller, whose shot sailed over the bar. The remarkable Brazilian would go on to make eight crosses in the game, (including another brilliant one that Arturo Vidal decided to karate-kick wide of the Dortmund goal) despite being double-teamed by the Durm-Piszczek duo, as Tuchel was going to make life difficult for the Bundesliga’s premium winger.
On 28 minutes, the former Shakhtar player would get the best chance of the match, as a lightning-fast counter capped off by a splendid outside of the boot pass by Arjen Robben found him streaking in on Roman Bürki all by himself, but the Swiss goalkeeper made his second biggest save in the match to thwart Bayern.
Dortmund’s strategy was to counter-attack and use the speed advantage of Reus and Aubameyang, with Mkhitaryan and Gündogan playing balls into space, and that strategy nearly paid off on 11 minutes, as an innocuous lost ball by Philipp Lahm at the edge of the Dortmund penalty box turned into a footrace between Auba and Kimmich after Mkhitaryan released the Gabonese. The 21-year-old Kimmich was grimacing to keep up with the effortless strides of Auba, but the chance ended with a relatively routine stop for Manuel Neuer.
Dortmund were getting into the game, with Gündogan and Mkhitaryan controlling midfield and possession, and could only blame the ineffective final balls and touches of Marco Reus and Aubameyang for not being ahead. In the last quarter of an hour, Xabi Alonso and Bayern began to slow things down and exert their influence over the match. The Spaniard would go on to finish the match with a game-high 124 touches, with 114 passes on 92% accuracy, oblivious to the pressures of such a decisive fixture. At half time, the question was, which trend would continue: Would Bayern be able to build on their possession, or would a quick Dortmund counter reduce the deficit to just two points?
Two different halves – a stalemate ending
In the 50th minute, Aubameyang nearly gave a resounding answer to that question, as his blistering pace created a half-chance out of a Gündogan challenge on Alonso, but he scuffed his shot and Neuer must have felt he got off lucky. Bayern’s biggest chance came off a corner on 64 minutes, as Vidal reacted the quickest to a loose ball and fired a shot that Bürki somehow managed to get his fingertips on and push to the crossbar. Dortmund would reply with a Reus layoff to Auba, who again was unable to get a dangerous shot on target.
The rest of the match was more or less academic, as Bayern’s quality really showed in the second half, by possessing the ball they were able to keep the Dortmund counter-attacking threat under wraps. The central quarter of Vidal, Alonso, Kimmich and Alaba all finished with over 75 touches, with Alonso and Kimmich over 120 both, and their 90% passing accuracy ensured that a tiring Dortmund would not see the ball very much in the closing moments.
Dortmund lacked the edge
Borussia lacked the squad depth to bring on a game-changer (sorry Adrian Ramos, but it is true) and their stars like Reus (just 24 touches for the match and multiple wrong decisions) and Mkhitaryan (faded badly after a nice opening 20 minutes and ended with 64% pass accuracy) were not up to the admittedly monumental task of defeating Bayern.
Aubameyang deserves credit for getting open and using his speed to amass four shots, but with a little better concentration he could have scored multiple goals. The defence, led by man of the match Mats Hummels’ monstrous performance – 11 interceptions and six clearances and Roman Bürki’s two gigantic saves definitely earned its paycheck and should feel a little let-down by the ARM trio.
The draw means a five point cushion for Bayern, who put on a championship caliber performance today, as they outshot Dortmund 17 to 11 and won the possession battle 63-37. With nine games remaining, barring an improbable collapse, the Bavarians should cruise to yet another title. That is not an indictment on the excellent season that Dortmund have had, but despite its recent less than impressive form, Bayern have proved that they are a historically great team.
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