Five observations on Bayerns 0-0 draw vs Dortmund

1. Bayern struggled early on with Dortmund's high pressing

Dortmund came out of the gates very aggressively, pressing high early on and disrupting the Bayern attack whenever they could. For most, if not all, of the first half, Dortmund actually had more possession than Bayern, with Dortmund controlling the middle of the pitch better than Bayern. This seemed to change late in the first half when Arjen Robben found himself involved a little bit more. He sliced through double teams and created dangerous situations, forcing Dortmund to play a little less aggressively on defense, especially on the right side.

2. Vidal was once again all over the place

Arturo Vidal played, in my opinion, his best offensive game in a Bayern uniform. He was extremely active in and around the box, providing danger for the Dortmund defense time and time again. His thundering volley in the second half should have seen Bayern take the lead, but Roman Burki's unbelievable reaction save denied Vidal the goal he probably deserved to get today. This kind of performance and offensive support is exactly the type of thing Bayern have been missing since Bastian Schweinsteiger left the club.

3. Long ball opportunities were there, but Bayern did not take them

Many times, Bayern forwards seemed to make runs in behind the Dortmund back line, but the likes of Xabi Alonso, David Alaba, and Joshua Kimmich rarely provide them with passes that could have surely led to some scoring opportunities. After punishing Dortmund with these types of passes in the first game, it was disappointing to see them not try long balls more often.

4. Jerome Boateng's passing was missed today

Surprisingly, today it wasn't Boateng's defensive class that Bayern missed. Instead, it was his superb passing from the back that could have made a difference today. As mentioned earlier, the central defenders did not provide the attackers with many long passes, and the few times they did, the passes were quite inaccurate. Luckily, it sounds like Boateng is well on his way to returning sooner than expected, at which point his beautiful passing will once again grace our television screens.

5. Bayern's shooting was incredibly bad today

Bayern not only struggled to put the ball in the back of the net, they struggled mightily to even hit the target. Too often, our attackers found themselves open near/around the net only to sky the ball into the 10th row. They didn't even allow themselves a chance at a possible rebound, or even a goal keeper error. Out of the 17 shots Bayern took today, only 4 managed to hit the target, a big reason as to why they're leaving Dortmund with only one point instead of three.