A 1-1 draw might have been the desired outcome Bayern Munich was hoping for against Borussia Dortmund in the season’s first installment of Der Klassiker, but on the overall balance of play, Jamal Musiala’s late header cancelling out Jamie Gittens’ first half strike was probably the most fair result. Dortmund were the better side in the first half and matters were not made any easier for Bayern when they lost Harry Kane to injury before the halftime break, but their efforts paid off in the end with Musiala sealing a point away from home in a period where they might have been able to score more than once.
The result keeps Bayern top of the table, though even a loss would have done the same, too. RB Leipzig losing to VfL Wolfsburg created some space between the Rekordmeister and Die Roten Bullen, but Bayer Leverkusen secured a 2-1 victory at Union Berlin, capitalizing on the two-point swing with Bayern’s draw at Dortmund.
In the first half, there were not too many chances to speak of and Dortmund were able to see that Gregor Kobel did not have to stay too busy in goal. A Leroy Sané chance midway through the first half was really the only time the keeper was called into action, making a diving save, and Gittens’ solo effort for his goal in the 27th minute put Bayern in the chasing position, forcing them to become more open.
After the match, board member for sport Max Eberl assessed Bayern’s performance and admitted that it was not good enough in the first half. “In the first half, we weren’t involved or precise enough and didn’t show that 100% quality of the past weeks. Dortmund scored the 1:0 from their only chance and we had to play catch-up. I have great respect for the way the team fought back against the stadium and a strong-defending Borussia Dortmund in the second half. Initially, we were unable to score from our chances but this also shows the character of the team. When you create so many chances and fail to score, it’s easy to give up. Our team didn’t do that. That’s why the 1:1 equalizer was totally deserved. We showed many positive character attributes and good morale,” he analyzed (via FCBayern.com)
Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images
Sporting director Christoph Freund shared Eberl’s sentiment and felt that Bayern really showed what they were capable of in the second half. It was during most of that half, especially during the latter stages of the match, that the points were really there for the taking for Bayern. “It was a very intense and interesting game of football. It went back and forth. There weren’t that many good chances in the first half, but Dortmund scored a great goal. In the second half, we were clearly the better team, we wanted to score the equalizer and win this game. The equalizer was more than deserved. It wasn’t easy, but the team did a great job and showed great character,” Freund explained.
Bayern will have to garner that second half momentum from Dortmund and take it into the midweek DFB-Pokal clash against Leverkusen, playing without their star striker with Kane being out for up to two weeks. The Pokal has not been Bayern’s competition in recent seasons, so beating Leverkusen and progressing to the quarterfinals would be a massive statement for Vincent Kompany. If they do progress past Leverkusen, they only have a slim chance they will face an opponent that is currently in the top 4 of the Bundesliga as one of the round of 16 matchups is RB Leipzig squaring off against Eintracht Frankfurt.
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