Bayern’s Dominance Over BVB Continues

Marc Separator March 6, 2021

Heading into Saturday, Dortmund already had things going against them due to their current injury situation which saw Reina, Sancho and Guerreiro all miss out on the match. Bayern meanwhile have had a recent boost in returns from injury and are now only missing a few players with Pavard expected to return soon.

However, this match would start about as badly as it could have for Bayern. Just 2 minutes in, Kimmich would be forced into a turnover and a quick pass to Haaland saw the striker turn and hit a hard shot that deflected off of Boateng and into the corner to make it 0-1. Dortmund pressured the Bavarians very intensely for the following phase and just seven minutes later, they passed their way easily through the Bayern defense and Haaland was there to put away another to make it 0-2.

However, not long after that period, Dortmund took their foot off the gas. Bayern started to wake up a bit. The passing got better and coupled with BVB sitting a little further back, it seemed like a matter of time before the Munich side would get on the score board.

In the 26th minute, Sané would get the ball in the upper corner of the box, dribble pass a helpless Schultz and send in a perfectly placed pass to Lewandowski to make it 1-2. Then just before the end of the half, Coman was brought down just inside the box and a penalty was given. Lewandowski again stepped up and cooly put it past Hitz to make it 2-2.

The second half would be dominated by Bayern. BVB were forced to take off their talisman Haaland in the 60th minute due to injury and any hope that schwarz-gelb supporters might have had of a win appeared to vanish entirely. Unfortunately, Bayern also picked up a serious looking injury ten minutes later as Jerome Boateng would appear to pick up a nasty hamstring injury lunging to clear a through ball.

Ultimately, it would take Bayern till the 88th minute to finally get their winner. Dortmund had been playing very compact in the box and made it difficult for Bayern to score but finally they broke through with a nice volley from Goretzka found the lower left corner of the net making it 3-2. Just a minute or so later, Lewandowski got the ball just out side the box and finished off his hat trick, the scoring and the match with a low shot into the same corner to make it 4-2.

Dreadful Starts

Slow starts have been an issue for Bayern all season. This match looked like it could be the culmination of that as they were pinged twice in the first ten minutes and looked awful doing so. Dortmund certainly is a good enough side on paper to give Bayern a beating and I think most Munich supporters were a little concerned it might finally happen after that start.

However, yet again they dug themselves out of that pit and took home three points. A lof the credit certainly should go to the players for not panicking and fighting their way back. However, this is another example of mental block that Dortmund have currently when facing Bayern.

There simply seems to be no belief in themselves at the first sign of adversity. It also seems like Bayern are aware of this and is part of the reason that there is no panic when they do go down. However, they cannot continue in this vein when playing better more confident sides, especially in the Champions League.

I was hopeful after seeing the Lazio match that most of the slow starts were lack of focus against perceived lesser sides, however this match proved that this might not be the case. The players need to find a way to come out consistently from the start with energy and urgency. If they can’t figure out a way to make that happen, they very well may end this season with one or possibly even zero trophies to show for their efforts.

Finding Answers

Having said all of that, the response from the Bayern players really was fantastic. Leroy Sané had a very impressive first 45 minutes. He absolutely tortured Schultz on the right and created a multitude of dangerous chances for Bayern with his assist to Lewandowski clearly being the high.

Süle also had a very good match overall. The makeshift right back is certainly not the offensive threat that Pavard or Kimmich are in that position but his improvement in this area is dramatic. He seems to have gained confidence in recent weeks and is making more of those dribbling runs through opposing defenders. More importantly, there is often a decent pass or cross at the end of those runs. While Boateng’s injury and Pavard’s near return most likely means Süle will return to center back, it does seem as though the big defender is starting to regain some confidence and form at the right time.

In reality, the team as a whole looked pretty good following the second goal. Kimmich didn’t have the greatest match of his life but fought and worked as hard as you would expect. Goretzka had a nice match which saw him net the winner in spectacular fashion. Coman created havoc on the left, especially in the second half, terrorizing the BVB defenders with some wonderful dribbling efforts.

Player of the Match

But then there’s Lewandowski. The striker who has been unquestionably the best player in the world over the last year plus was in excellent form today. He was active and dangerous the whole match. He and Sané were really on the same page all match and combined for several dangerous chances before the first goal.

While I don’t think it was the best performance from Müller, you do also feel like his return helped to open up the striker just a little bit more as well. When Lewandowski is up for a match and in the form he was tonight, he is unstoppable. Those three goals also feel huge in terms of the chase for Gerd Müller’s Bundesliga record. While I thought he had a chance coming into tonight, I didn’t expect that he would pick up three more goals in this one. A record that many thought was untouchable is starting to feel not only possible at this point but downright likely.

Bayern have another full week to prepare for their matchup with Werder Bremen. These weeks of full recovery feel very important to a side that has had a grueling schedule and really needed a break. Lets hope they use this time to recover and mentally prepare to dominate from the first whistle next weekend.

»Eier, wir brauchen Eier!«

— Oliver Kahn

Support our project

Want to stay up to date?

Subscribe and get our most recent articles delivered to your inbox.

Follow us on your favourite social media platform:

  1. Well said! And Lewandowski will edge ever closer to the 40 goal record at Bremen. I predict at least another two goals for him.

    Answer Icon1 ReplyClose child-comments
    1. Estoy de acuerdo contigo yo creo que sin ningún problema podría llegar a los 40 goles de Gerd Müller, aun Lewandowski cuenta con 8 partidos por jugar y mete mínimo 1 gol por partido mientras siga así podrá conseguir los 40 goles que nadie ha alcanzado desde la temporada 1971- 1972, y ya lleva varios años tratando de igualar esa marca pero creo que hasta este año es cuando mas se ha visto que podrá conseguirlo y tiene casi asegurada la bota de oro esperemos que este año también le den su merecido balón de oro.

  2. Thrilling and very enjoyable performance to watch. I really like our pressing and attacking play. Of course had Dortmund had no injury and not taken their foot off the gas so early, it might have been different. Nevertheless, the team still seems to be able to shift up a gear when needed, which would be extremely important in the next rounds of Champions League, and also RB Leipzig is waiting in less than a month.

    By the way, it’s been a while since we had an English podcast, would that be too much to ask for one in March, please @Miasanrot? Thank you, great sump as always!

    Answer Icon5 RepliesClose child-comments
    1. Hi Hien, I agree the injury situation certainly worked against Dortmund but I still thin they have a mental block about Bayern and do really doubt that the result would have been any different regardless of who they ultimately had available. That ability to turn it on is certainly going to be a huge factor in their success this season. So far they’ve been able to do it and this couple of weeks with no midweek games should also hopefully help to keep them a little fresher than before. Regarding the podcast, we actually just tried to record one but due to technical issues, it didn’t come off. We’re working on finding a way around it and hopefully will have one out soon.

    2. Speaking of Leipzig….am I the only one that finds it highly suspicious that they played one game less than Bayern in the CL, are still competitive in treble seeking success, and seem to run every opponent into the ground with “supernatural” energy…I know Nagels is a great coach and motivator, but this squad is not on the same level as Bayern and I would think more on the level of Leverkusen or Gladbach…but their main strength seems to be able to aggressively run hard and press for 90 minutes over and over…perhaps there’s something a
      little stronger than red bull drink going on there?

      1. One thing to consider is that you don’t always have to have the more technically gifted or athletic players in order to run opponents into the ground. I actually think they are unquestionably the third most talented team in the Bundesliga and as you mention they have a great coach who is very good at using the players he has. From my point of view, Leipzig has, and has had for a while now, a lot of players who work very hard and are competitive because they are both very talented and are willing to put in the work. Also, their schedule despite having only played two less matches this season so far has been a little kinder than Bayern’s. Those two super cup’s early in the season were brutal in terms of timing and the travel alone for the club world cup is exhausting. If they progress further in the CL, which looks very questionable, as well as the Pokal while maintaining their current run in the Bundesliga and never look tired at all, then we can revisit this. Until then, I don’t really have too many suspicions regarding their current form.

      2. Hay que tener en cuenta que el Leipzig tiene muy poco tiempo en la Bundesliga y desde su creación desde el 2011 su crecimiento ha sido muy bueno y de ahí vienen jugadores como Kimmich, pero yo considero que es un muy buen equipo, el cual es muy competitivo pero creo que aun le falta mas para alcanzar al Bayern y tiene que demostrar mas, si ves sus partidos en la Champions casi siempre tenían un buen inicio de partido pero al final es donde siempre mas les marcaban goles, también el mismo Nagelsmann dijo que ellos vivían mucha mas motivación con su publico alentándoles y que eso les ha desfavorecido y casi lo mismo con el Borussia.

    3. Hay que tener en cuenta que el Borussia ha bajado mucho de nivel si lo ves ahora mismo en la tabla de clasificación esta en 5to lugar, aunque tengo jugadores muy buenos como Haaland, Sancho y Reus siempre tiene algo que le falla en los partidos y se le nota mucho en algunos que a veces bajan su nivel y eso fue lo que le paso con el Bayern bajaron demasiado la intensidad y el Bayern siempre busca anotar muchos goles y quedaron mal desde esa lesión en el partido entonces eso hizo que el Bayern los empatara antes del primer tiempo, sigue siendo un muy buen equipo pero siento que para algunos partido baja su nivel.

  3. […] Bayern’s Dominance Over BVB Continues | Marc […]

Leave a Reply to Hien Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.