Borussia Dortmund

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Heynckes also supports Weidenfeller call up

[2.12.] A 1-1 draw for BVB at Bayern Munich. Not enough when looking at the table, at Bayern and at Bayer. And not enough when looking at how the game went on Saturday, with Borussia having three good opportunities to open the scoring themselves. Only when the Black ´n´ Yellows stepped up their attacking intentions did Bayern manage to create chances for a winner. At any rate, BVB took more than a point home from Munich. They now have the knowledge that they are on a par with the Bundesliga leaders.

For BVB, three points on Saturday would have made up for the points dropped at home to Düsseldorf, while for Bayern a victory would have brought an end to a winless streak against the Black ´n´ Yellows (with five defeats in a row before Saturday´s game). "There still is a team in Germany they are unable to beat," former Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn told TV station "liga total!"

Müller’s cross-cum-shot was Weidenfeller’s “toughest save“ on Saturday.

And there´s also still a goalkeeper who´s highly regarded by everyone in Germany. By everyone but Joachim Löw. In a fine gesture, the BVB goalkeeper was even congratulated and praised for his performance by the Bayern team on Saturday. "If this is his dream, the German coach should make it come true," Bayern coach Jupp Heynchkes told ZDF television.

Weidenfeller saved to deny Kroos in a one-on-one, then kept out a Müller cross-cum-shot and finally pulled off an outstanding reflex save from a close range Martinez header. Kahn lauded the Dortmund keeper for an "outstanding performance", while also noting his consistency.

Mario Götze scored the equaliser on 74 minutes. [pictures: firo]

Which, by the way, is supported by statistics: according to German sports magazine kicker, Borussia´s No 1 has the highest average rating of all goalkeepers in Germany´s top flight in the past five years. Flattered by Kahn´s praise, Weidenfeller said: "He is, after all, a goalkeeping legend."

That the Dortmund keeper was forced to make three crucial saves in the last five minutes also had something to do with a forced substitution. When Neven Subotic had to come off with a groin injury (a scan will reveal more on Monday) after colliding accidentally with Franck Ribery, Felipe Santana literally had to come on cold from the bench and must have "felt like a pedestrian on the autobahn" (Klopp).

At the end of the day, a 1-1 draw is, as Mario Götze put it, a fair reflection of the game. Against a BVB side playing with a 4-3-2-1 in the first half (with Kuba, Bender and Gündogan in front of the defence) and a more attacking formation (4-3-3) after the break, the alleged favourites from Bavaria needed 67 minutes to create their first scoring opportunity. And Saturday´s game also saw the end of an unwritten rule saying that Bayern win every game when they open the scoring at their home ground.