1-0 - Aubameyang strike decides clash with Bayern

Prior to kick-off the 81,360 spectators in a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK took a moment to remember the late Aki Schmidt, who was commemorated with a choreography in the South Stand and some moving words from stadium announcer Norbert Dickel.

BVB came racing out of the blocks, taking a deserved lead through Aubameyang in the 11th minute and denying Bayern a clear sight of goal before the break.

The fans certainly saw a clash that lived up to its top game billing with both teams displaying their attacking intent. In the second 45 minutes the men from Munich began to gain the upper hand, but Ribery's 55th-minute goal was disallowed for offside and Alonso was denied by the crossbar six minutes later, before Aubameyang fired a golden opportunity straight at Neuer (71). It remained dramatic until the end, with Bayern piling on the pressure but BVB holding on to secure the three points.

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reports

The scenario:
Fifth versus first. The 'Klassiker' pitted the league's best offensive record (BVB, 25 goals) against its second-best (FCB, 24). A win would allow BVB to halve the gap to Bayern and move to within touching distance of the top of the table, while the men from Munich were looking to wrest back top spot from Rasenballsport Leipzig. The previous 94 clashes between the teams had produced 23 Dortmund victories, 29 draws and 42 defeats, while the previous ten Bundesliga encounters in Dortmund had yielded three BVB wins, four draws and three defeats.

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Personnel matters:
Durm was back in the squad for the first time since the DFB Cup final in May, but Thomas Tuchel was without Reus (heel), Rode (operation scar), Bender (bone marrow oedema), Guerreiro (muscular problems) and Subotic (fitness training after chest operation). The coach made five changes to the starting XI that won in Hamburg a fortnight ago, bringing in Schmelzer, Weigl, Schürrle, Götze and Ramos in place of Rode, Castro, Pulisic, Guerreiro and Mor. Bayern travelled without Vidal (thigh problems), Robben (muscular problems), Martinez (fibre tear) and Coman (lateral collateral ligament tear in knee).

Tactics:
Rather than being a cautious or cagey affair, it was pure football full of robust challenges between two teams that rapidly transitioned through midfield. A brave Borussia lined up in a 3-1-4-2 formation with Piszczek and Schmelzer dropping back into defence to form a five-man rearguard whenever Bayern had lengthy spells of possession. Otherwise they looked to push forward and form an offensive midfield quartet alongside Götze and Schürrle, while Aubameyang and Ramos spearheaded the attack. The Bavarians lined up a 4-3-3 system in which Ribery and Müller mostly shifted inwards to make space on the flanks for Lahm and Alaba as the two full-backs looked to overlap.

The match & analysis:
BVB attempted to set the pace from the outset, showing no respect for Bayern, consistently pressing the Bavarians very early on and demonstrating great tactical discipline. The Black and Yellow rearguard looked extremely solid, managing time and time again to intercept the final balls being played through to Lewandowski or Müller and staying one step ahead of the FCB frontmen. It wasn't until the game was half an hour old that Bayern began to find their feet in the match.

As for attack, Aubameyang & Co. simply picked up where they had left off in Hamburg two weeks earlier. Only 11 minutes had been played when Piszczek fed the ball into the box to Götze, who kept his cool against Hummels and waited for the space to open up, before threading the ball through his legs to Aubameyang on the edge of the six-yard box. The striker demonstrated his killer instinct, sliding in at the right moment to get the all-important touch on the ball with the sole of his foot and steer it past the hapless Neuer and over the line.

Schürrle hammers into Neuer's arms

The goal, which sent the crowd at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK into raptures, was followed by a display of tenacity from the hosts, who continuously put Bayern's build-up play under pressure and attacked at lightning speed. Following build-up play from Ramos, Götze squared the ball across the face of Neuer's goal but no-one was on hand to finish off his cross (19), then Schürrle latched onto a powerful Aubameyang cross and hit a thunderous half-volley from 12 metres out straight into the Bayern custodian's arms (21).

That is not to say that Bayern were not having a go or posing any kind of threat. On numerous occasions players such as Alaba, or even Lahm and Ribery, would break through down the flanks and either take on the BVB rearguard in one-on-ones or cross into the centre. But thanks to their excellent tactical discipline, Borussia did not allow FCB any real chances in the opening half an hour. Bürki was called into action – but not troubled – for the first time when Hummels headed an Alonso free-kick goalbound in the 31st minute. Thereafter Bayern increasingly took control of the match, but two Thiago efforts – the first a wayward scissor kick (40) and the second a long-range effort (44) – missed the target. There was a dangerous moment on the stroke of half-time when Sokratis sliced a cross into the side netting via Kimmich (45).

Aubameyang squanders chance to kill game

The second half was 30 seconds old when Aubameyang cut into the penalty area from the left but was denied by the quick reactions of Neuer in the Bayern goal. Shortly afterwards the striker headed millimetres over the bar after being set up by Schmelzer (49) before, seconds later at the other end of the pitch, BVB shot-stopper Bürki punched a cross clear with Lewandowski looming. Both teams were playing an open game, but Bayern were having more and more of the ball and were penning the Westphalians back into an ever-smaller space. Ribery scored with a flicked finish but the Frenchman's offside position when he received the ball from Müller did not escape the referee's attention and the goal was disallowed (55).

Alonso then hammered the ball against the bar from 17 metres (61), before making a huge error at the other end by playing a wayward pass into the path of Aubameyang, who failed to beat Neuer in the ensuing one-on-one (71). Bayern continued to push until the very end in what was a nail-biting finish for the BVB fans in the stadium, but the Black and Yellow rearguard stood firm and didn't give away any more real chances.

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Prospects:
Borussia will play host to Legia Warsaw in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday 22 November (20:45 CET), before travelling away to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga the following Saturday (26/11, 15:30 CET).

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