Let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, Borussia Dortmund have been playing way better than Bayern Munich this season and are off to a flying start in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League. Of course, we all remember what happened to Dortmund last year after their thoroughly impressive start to the campaign, but their recent 4-0 demolition of Atletico Madrid in the Champions League firmly cemented their status as a contender to go the distance on both fronts this season.
While Lucien Favre has his Dortmund side firing on all cylinders, Niko Kovac has found life at Bayern a bit more difficult in defense of their six consecutive league titles. Against Bayern, opposing teams tactically make a point of sitting back and absorbing pressure, waiting for the right moment to spring a counter-attack. Since Bayern has to find clever ways to play around such blockades, they cannot play as freely as other teams do — teams like Dortmund.
During Bayern’s pre-Mainz press conference, Kovac explained why it’s harder for Bayern to break down their opposition and find goals (via SportBild):
Everyone would like to score lots of goals. But you have to look at it in a more nuanced way. When teams play against Bayern Munich, the focus is different. The defensive block is totally different from the one against other teams. That makes things more difficult. You have to beat 20 to 30 players per attack! You not only have to beat 10 players, but rather after you’ve beaten two or three, they’re immediately back again and you have to beat them all over again. People raise barricades against the big teams...
Bayern have roughly two weeks until the much anticipated, first Klassiker against Dortmund this season. They currently have some catching up to do between now and then while also hoping that Dortmund drop a few points along the way. Kovac acknowledged that Bayern have to stay fully focused if they want to close the gap on their rivals. Simply put, they have to focus on winning their matches and chipping away at the gap:
First and foremost, we have to win our games. If we can nibble away at (the lead) before the game vs Dortmund, that’s great.
Kovac also gave Dortmund plenty of credit at the press conference for the way they’ve been playing so far this season:
They’re on a really good tear. It’s fun, as the people who watch all of Dortmund’s games tell me. They’re doing very well, not just in light of the results.