5-1 - BVB punished by ruthlessly efficient Bayern

A sell-out crowd of 75,137 spectators in the Allianz Arena and up to 900 million TV viewers around the world saw Germany's Thomas Müller (26, 35) fire the hosts into the lead courtesy of a first-half brace. And although Aubameyang (36) hit back almost immediately to reduce the deficit with his tenth goal of the season, Robert Lewandowski (46, 58) and Mario Götze (66) put the match beyond BVB's reach after the break.

Felix Ulrich reports

The scenario:
They scarcely come bigger than a clash between FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund: the top two teams in the table, both unbeaten this season, squaring off against each other. Though FCB were favourites, BVB had lost only two of their last seven outings at the Allianz Arena. An away win for BVB would have seen them close the gap at the top to one point. "We feel ready to really challenge them and to put in a top performance," were BVB coach Thomas Tuchel's words in the run-up to the match. The "Klassiker" was shown live in 207 countries.

Personnel matters:
Thomas Tuchel made six changes to the starting eleven that drew 1-1 away to PAOK Saloniki in the UEFA Europa League. Bürki replaced Weidenfeller between the sticks, while Sokratis and Hummels returned in place of Subotic and Park. Gündogan started in midfield as Hofmann dropped to the bench, while BVB began the match with Castro, Kagawa (replacing Reus), Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang (replacing Januzaj) in attack. Durm (knee operation), Sahin (training programme) and Schmelzer (thigh injury) were unavailable. For Bayern, who had thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 5-0 in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, Javi Martinez, Xabi Alonso and Thomas Müller returned in place of Juan Bernat, Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman.

Tactics:
For the first time under Thomas Tuchel, Borussia Dortmund lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond in midfield and Gündogan and Castro at centre-right and centre-left respectively. Kagawa slotted in the hole behind strikers Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan, where he played a particular role. When Bayern had the ball the Japan international - just like in recent matches in Munich - played as a "false nine" and attacked the Bayern players high up the pitch in a bid to disrupt their build-up play. At the same time Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang moved across to the flanks in order to cut out passes down the wings. Julian Weigl played as the lone defensive midfielder in front of the back four. With Schmelzer injured, Piszczek moved into the left-back slot, while the speedy Sokratis replaced Ginter on the right side of defence. Just like in Thessaloniki, Bender lined up in the centre of defence, alongside Mats Hummels.

The men from Munich played in a 3-4-3 formation with Martinez, Boateng and Alaba in defence, and Alonso, Lahm and Thiago directly in front. Müller slotted in behind the striking triumvirate of Götze, Lewandowski and Costa, moving forward to join them each time Bayern went forward.

The match & analysis:
Though BVB got stuck in traffic on their way to the Allianz Arena and only arrived in the stadium an hour before kick-off, they made a bright start to the match. Indeed the Black and Yellows, lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Kagawa playing high up the pitch behind Aubameyang, initially seemed to disrupt Bayern's flow.

The statistics prove that BVB performed well in the opening 20 minutes, recording three shots to Bayern's one, having 49% possession and winning 59% of the tackles. And yet they were limited to the occasional half-chance, such as when Mkhitaryan popped up on the left of the penalty area, only for Thiago to clear his cross out for a corner.

Though Bayern seemed to be lacking their usual dominance in the opening stages of the match, the record-champions were ice-cool in front of goal. With 26 minutes on the clock Müller raced away from Piszczek and latched onto a long ball from Boateng, poking it past the onrushing Bürki and firing past Piszczek into the net. One chance, one goal.

Shortly afterwards match referee Marco Fritz (Korb) came under scrutiny when he awarded a spot-kick to the hosts after believing Mkhitaryan had felled Thiago in the Dortmund box. It was a contentious decision because although there was minimal contact, it might not have been enough to bring Thiago tumbling down. Müller buried the resulting spot-kick, sending Bürki the wrong way as he fired into the right of the goal - 2-0 (35). It was the second dubious decision of the match by Marco Fritz, who in the fourth minute had "only" shown Bayern's Alaba - who was the last man - a yellow card rather than a potentially justifiable red for pulling Aubameyang back.

Aubameyang makes history

BVB were not discouraged by the two-goal lead, and hit back almost immediately to narrow the deficit. Mkhitaryan fed the ball across to Castro on the right, who played it back across the face of goal for Aubameyang to slot home (36). The goal means that the Gabon international is the first player in Bundesliga history to score at least one goal on each of the first eight matchdays of a season. Including games at the tail end of last season too, "Auba" has now scored on ten consecutive matchdays - thus equalling Klaus Allofs' record from 1984.

The Black and Yellows remained in the match, trailing just 2-1 at the break. But Bayern extended their lead just 26 seconds into the second period when Boateng hit the ball forward to Robert Lewandowski, who raced between BVB centre-backs Bender and Hummels, touched the ball past Bürki and smashed it into an empty net (46).

BVB still kept going, introducing Reus and Januzaj into the fray in place of Kagawa and Castro in the 53rd minute. Tuchel switched the formation to a 4-3-3 with Januzaj (right) and Reus (left) on the wings and Mkhitaryan and Gündogan at centre-right and centre-left.

Rampant Bayern

But there was to be no stopping a rampant Bayern. Götze (55) missed the chance to score a fourth from three metres out before Lewandowski struck home from eleven metres out (58) to score his twelfth goal of the season. In the 66th minute Thiago then set up Götze for a fifth. However, the former Dortmund midfielder seemed to be standing in an offside position in the build-up to FCB's fourth, while even Thiago looked surprised that the referee let play continue after the Spaniard's challenge on Bender in the build-up to the fifth.

It soon became a case of damage limitation for Tuchel's charges, who only really failed to perform defensively. On the 71-minute mark, Neuer turned Mkhitaryan's effort around the post, before Januzaj failed to beat the 'keeper (79). Though Bayern might have only had a few more shots on goal (15:10), they had a lot more to show for their efforts.

Prospects:
After trips to Saloniki and Munich, the international break - Ireland vs. Germany (8/10), Germany vs. Georgia (11/10) - means Tuchel's men will have to wait almost a fortnight before hitting the road again. That away trip will be against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on 16 October (kick-off at 20:30 CET), before travelling away to Azerbaijan to face Gabala FC on 22 October (kick-off 17:00 CET). Borussia's next home game will be against FC Augsburg on 25 October at 17:30 CET.

Teams & goals