Bayern Munich 4-0 Borussia Dortmund: Initial reactions and observations

Full Time. Bayern overcome Dortmund in emphatic fashion, in what was a display of complete dominance. A huge victory for Hansi Flick, who’s seat looks secure for the foreseeable future.

Initial reactions and observations:

• Robert Lewandowski is the best striker in the world at the moment, and he has just added another 2 goals to what seems to be a consistent, incredible tally of goals. Right now, he leads Europe’s top 5 leagues with 16 goals in the Bundesliga this season.
• Alphonso Davies was nothing short of incredible at left back today. He performed his defensive duties to the highest quality (resemblant of a prime Alaba) and contributed well to the attack. Definitely one of Bayern’s best players on the pitch today.
• Bayern’s defence turned out a great performance today, snuffing out Dortmund attacks before they could materialize into anything dangerous. Kimmich was unusually good in the destroyer role, making vital interceptions and tackles to deny Dortmund any chances in Bayern’s half.
• Thomas Mueller is vital to the attack, and that was seen today. His raumdeutering was visible throughout, getting into tight spaces and opening channels up for team-mates with great through balls, and playing great one on one’s with Lewandowski that resulted in goals. This has been a standout performance of the man we all adore so much, and there is no doubt he can still contribute a huge amount to the Bayern offence.

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90+2’ — 4-0 FT. Hansi Flick gets his first Bundesliga victory against perennial rivals Dortmund.

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89’ — Some beautiful one-touch passing finds Perisic at the end, who attempts a beautiful volley which narrowly misses the far post. Scoreline remains 4-0.

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87’ — Lewandowski with some great movement and skill with the ball. Earns a foul.

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85’ — Bayern absolutely dominating. Dortmund’s chances are now very small in number and far fetched, while Bayern seem like they are playing with just one CB at the moment.

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79’ — Dortmund with an OWN GOAL! Bayern go forward on yet another counter, which Perisic crosses in, which is slotted in by Mats Hummels, who fails to see where the ball is going with its momentum. 4-0!

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76’ — GOAAAAL! After an absolutely beautiful move and a great one-two between Lewandowski and Mueller (as usual), Lewandowski shows great calm and composure to slot the ball home to make it his 23rd this season in all competitions. This man is on fire.

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72’ — Mueller with the miss! Bayern win the ball and Coman finds Mueller at the edge of the box, which the German is unable to slot into the net.

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69’ — Alcacer with a great chance! Hakimi takes the ball forward and crosses it into the box, only for Alcacer to miss slotting the ball into an empty net. Still 2-0 Bayern.

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66’ — Bayern start on another promising counter, taking the ball forward only to be cleared by Nico Schultz.

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62’ — Alphonso Davies is having a hell of a game in defence after (again) dispossessing a Dortmund player. A cross to Alcacer is then wrestled and taken forward by the young Canadian, who has matured wonderfully.

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59’ — ANOTHER GREAT CHANCE! Lewandowski misses the goal after a great fake to send Hummels flying, and that was really unlike him.

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56’ — Bayern looking very assured and pressing high, forcing errors from the Dortmund midfield. The game is going on cruise control.

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51’ — GREAT CHANCE! Bayern almost go up 3-0, in a beautiful move created by Davies and Coman resulting in a good ball narrowly missed by Gnabry.

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50’ — Bayern looking completely in control at the moment, passing the ball around and defending well.

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48’ — GOAAAAL! Serge Gnabry slots in the ball from a move generated by a brilliant through ball by Joshua Kimmich, which is teed into the box by Thomas Mueller, and Gnabry slots it in happily. There is a VAR offside check, which ends in Bayern’s favour. 2-0!

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46’ — And the second half kicks off!

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Half time reactions and observations

• Both sides generated good chances from the start-off, with the Bayern defence looking a bit shaky at the beginning, clearing the ball away whenever Dortmund players advanced anywhere close to their box. As the game progressed, the defence seemed to come together and gel perfectly, with Martinez and Alaba rarely putting a foot wrong.
• Alphonso Davies is having yet another solid outing, helping out defensively by being there at the right time to intercept Hakimi, Sancho, or later, Guerreiro and always provided the back line an outlet to move the ball forward. His runs forward were also well timed, and his passes were precise, only to be snuffed by Hummels or Akanji.
• Robert Lewandowski adds yet another goal to his tally to now make it 22 goals in all competitions for Bayern this season, and generated some great chances too. His interplay was phenomenal, and his one-touch passing and beautiful flicks were worthy of goals, only to be missed by his teammates due to being dispossessed.
• The midfield is having a decent outing so far, but is being outwrestled and outmaneuvered at times by Dortmund’s physicality. Kimmich did some great defensive work though, but one can only wonder how much more in control Bayern would’ve been with a player like Thiago in the lineup.
• Referees continue to ignore Bayern calls for fouls, and both Coman and Davies were left on the ground after clear fouls by the Dortmund players. This is growing to be a huge cause for concern moving forward in the season.

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45’ — HT.

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45’ — Alaba does some resolute defending to make sure Hakimi does not race away with the ball. Score remains 1-0.

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44’ — Chance for Dortmund! Guerreiro whips in a beautiful ball of a freekick, which Witsel narrowly misses as he puts the ball behind the far post.

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42’ — Gnabry takes the shot! Burki makes a vital save, and Dortmund remain just one goal down. Still 1-0.

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38’ — RULED OUT FOR OFFSIDE! Serge Gnabry puts the ball in the back of the net after a move initiated by a beautiful backheel from Lewandowski leads to Mueller setting the ball in Gnabry’s path, who slots it in. He is miles offside, though.

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34’ — Kimmich wrestles the ball away from Witsel,, only to be shoved down by the latter. Freekick for Bayern.

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30’ — Bürki punches away a corner whipped in by Kimmich, earned via a quality ball to the flanks. Bayern looking in complete control.

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26’ — Lewandowski generates a quality chance with his athleticism, keeping the ball in with an acrobatic stunt and teeing up Coman only for the ball to go off for a corner.

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24’ — Mueller misses a good opportunity, tees up his teammates and Coman gets the shot wide off the post.

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22’ — Coman speeds down the flank with some great footwork, leaving Hakimi for dead, but there is no one in the box to meet his great cross.

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20’ — Dortmund start on an attack of their own, and Davies is there to make a vital block.

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17’ — GOAAAAL! After some confusion between the players in the box and the ball being shuffled around, Pavard lifts up the ball, for Lewandowski to head into the back of the net.

1-0 Bayern!

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15’ — More great interplay from the Dortmund players, which is snuffed out. Bayern then generate a quality chance, which Gnabry fails to capitalize on.

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11’ — CHANCES ON BOTH SIDES! Lewandowski takes the ball off from a counterattack, only to be dispossessed by Hummels for Dortmund to start their own counter. Javi Martinez is there to make a good tackle.

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9’ — Bayern starts a promising attack, which Goretzka fails to connect with, with a misplaced pass.

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6’ — Dortmund looking to exploit every bit of space, with Sancho and Hakimi doing some interplay on the flank, which is cleared to safety.

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3’ — Great attacking intent seen from both sides, with Dortmund pressing relentlessly. We are all set to witness an exciting game.

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1’ — Kickoff! Der Klassiker is finally here, and all eyes are on the boys in red.

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One hour until kickoff: It’s the same lineup that we saw against Olympiacos!

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Well, it’s that time of the year again. Der Klassiker is back, and for the first time in ages, neither Bayern Munich nor Borussia Dortmund come into the game as league leaders. That doesn’t make the game any less significant, however — Germany’s biggest club fixture always has an impact on the title race.

Hansi Flick faces his second outing as Bayern’s head coach without some key players — both Niklas Sule and Lucas Hernandez are out due to injury, and Jerome Boateng is serving a two-game suspension for the red card he received against Eintracht Frankfurt. Because of that, we’re probably going to see a makeshift defense. The coach already confirmed that Alphonso Davies will reprise his role at left back, which seems to imply that we’ll see the same lineup and formation that was deployed against Olympiacos.

Poor Hansi can’t catch a break though, as it’s been reported that Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho have traveled with their team to Munich. Even though Bayern managed to keep a clean sheet in midweek — the first one in ages — BVB are a completely different beast, and they’re coming into the game in a rich vein of form. There will need to be a collective effort, especially from senior players like Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, and Manuel Neuer to make sure Bayern Munich come out of this game with a positive result.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Time: 6:30 pm local time, 12:30 pm EST

TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country

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