Bundesliga
Slow start to each half proves costly as Bayern run out 4-1 winners
Borussia Dortmund lost their Bundesliga clash with FC Bayern Munich 4-1 (2-1). The Black and Yellows were largely outplayed in Bavaria but remain one point off third-placed TSG Hoffenheim after the men from Baden-Wurttemberg were beaten 2-1 in Hamburg earlier on Saturday.
The 75,000-strong crowd saw the record champions come racing out of the blocks at the Allianz Arena, surging into a 2-0 lead inside the opening quarter of an hour courtesy of goals from Ribery and Lewandowski in the fourth and tenth minutes respectively. Guerreiro narrowed the deficit with a spectacular strike in the 20th minute to bring BVB back into the game, but Robben re-established the two-goal cushion four minutes after the interval before Lewandowski rounded off the victory with a penalty on the 68-minute mark.
The scenario
There were 15 points separating fourth-placed BVB and league leaders FC Bayern in the table, but the Black and Yellows had won the reverse fixture 1-0 and had claimed victories in three of their previous six league games at the Allianz Arena, losing only two. Coach Thomas Tuchel was optimistic in the run-up to the match: "We've been extremely good as underdogs this season and have performed particularly well against all the top teams."
Personnel matters
Julian Weigl, Shinji Kagawa, Marco Reus, André Schürrle, Mario Götze and Erik Durm did not join the Borussia Dortmund squad travelling to Bavaria due to various injury problems, so Thomas Tuchel was forced to make four changes to the starting XI that comfortably dispatched Hamburg 3-0 last time out. Passlack, Sokratis, Schmelzer and Pulisic stepped in to replace Piszczek, Mor, Weigl and Kagawa. For the hosts, Boateng made his comeback alongside Martinez in central defence, replacing Hummels. Carlo Ancelotti also opted to draft in Lahm, Ribery and Thiago in place of Rafinha, Coman and Renato Sanches. At 30.1 years, the average age of FC Bayern's team was more than five years older than BVB's (24.8).
Tactics
BVB lined up with their usual back three, which was expanded into a four or five man rearguard by Schmelzer (left) and Passlack (right) when the hosts had the ball. Castro and Guerreiro filled the defensive midfield berths, while Dembélé and Pulisic occupied the central positions behind Aubameyang. Bayern countered Borussia's 3-2-4-1 (5-4-1 without possession) with a 4-2-3-1 in which Robben and Ribery played more as wing forwards than attacking midfielders. When the Bavarians had the ball, Vidal, in defensive midfield alongside Alonso, moved level with Thiago. In the second period BVB initially switched to a 4-3-3, with Ginter in the centre of the midfield trio and Rode and Guerreiro on either side, but by the end they had reverted back to a 5-4-1 system.
The match & analysis
The game got off to a lively start in the Aliianz Arena, with Dembélé coming close to opening the scoring for the visitors in the second minute before FC Bayern raced 2-0 ahead with their first two chances. Ribery drilled home from a central position 13 metres out exactly 188 seconds into the match after Lahm had cut the ball back from the byline and, as Robben got a touch on the ball on its way through, BVB shot-stopper Bürki was powerless to stop it. Six minutes later Lewandowski made it 2-0, curling a free-kick – won for a foul by Bartra on Ribery – from 20 metres out over the wall, though he was helped by the fact that Dembélé inexplicably ducked out of the way as he struck it.
The Black and Yellows appeared overpowered by the relentless waves of Red and White streaming forward, and lost most of the tackles in their half despite adopting a 5-3-2 formation when Bayern had the ball. Robben twice came close to extending the lead when he tried his favourite move of cutting inside from the right and curling the ball into the far corner, but those attempts – in the 13th and 17th minutes respectively – were inches wide.
Suddenly, though, the deficit was halved when Vidal cleared Passlack's cross straight to Guerreiro on the edge of the box in the 20th minute. Running at full speed, the Portugual international hit a spectacular left-footed effort at 106km/h straight into the top corner. His fifth goal of the season took the tally in the opening 20 minutes to three – more goals than the last four competitive meetings between the sides put together.
FC Bayern's dominance clear
The two teams largely cancelled each other out in what remained of the first period, although it was clear that the hosts were in control. The record champions, whose effort from Robben in the 30th minute was parried away for a corner by Bürki, had 64 percent possession, won 61 percent of the tackles and registered 11 shots on goal. BVB, by comparison, had five.
The start of the second period, which began with Sebastian Rode coming on for Gonzalo Castro, bore a striking resemblance to the first: Aubameyang missed the chance to level when he hit the side-netting in the 47th minute, before Bayern struck four minutes into the half to make it 3-1. The Dutchman cut in from the right side of the box, sidestepping Sokratis and Schmelzer in the BVB rearguard before firing home. The game was all but over.
Robben almost added another on the 65-minute mark, before Boateng cleared Aubameyang's shot off the line after the Gabon forward had already beaten FCB custodian Ulreich. The Bavarians countered and played in Lewandowski, who was felled by Bürki in the box, leaving the referee with little choice but to point to the spot. Luckily for the Swiss shot-stopper, he was only cautioned for the foul. Lewandowski slotted home the ensuing penalty to increase the lead to 4-1 (68).
For the Black and Yellows, who had replaced Dembélé with Mor (59) and Guerreiro with Merino (69), the last 20 minutes were all about damage limitation. The hosts were superior in every respect, increasing their share of the second-half possession to 71 percent. Kimmich, who came on for Lewandowski in the 76th minute after the Pole had injured his shoulder, almost put the hosts 5-1 ahead against a Borussia side missing the likes of Weigl, Kagawa, Reus, Schürrle, Götze and Durm. The Bayern youngster, however, hit the side-netting and the game finished 4-1, though the visitors came close to getting a second when Pulisic was denied by Ulreich three minutes from time.
Prospects
BVB welcome AS Monaco to Dortmund on Tuesday evening (kick-off 20:45 CET) for the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg. The match is sold out. Then, next Saturday (15:30 CET), domestic action resumes with Eintracht Frankfurt making the trip to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK.