Bayern Munich 4-2 Borussia Dortmund: Bundesliga – as it happened
06-Mar-2021 19:30:31 | The Guardian
Bayern bounced back from Erling Haaland’s early double whammy to continue their winning streak in Der Klassiker
That was a classic Klassiker! Erling Haaland had the visitors two goals up in short order, then midway through the first half, Thomas Meunier had a glorious opportunity to make it three. Just for a split second, a first Dortmund win at Bayern for seven years looked on. But Meunier spurned the chance, and a minute later Bayern were back in it. From then, with the benefit of crystal-clear hindsight, it was only a matter of time, even if Bayern left it late to find the winner. Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick brings him to 31 league goals this season; if he scores a goal a game for the remainder of the season, he’ll be wiping Gerd Muller’s 1971-72 total from the record books. Oh, and Bayern are back in the box seat as they chase their 31st German title. Thanks for reading. Gute Nacht!
Dortmund started fast and should have gone three up in the first half. But you can’t let a side like Bayern off the hook, and look what’s happened. Robert Lewandowski is what’s happened! Bayern go two clear of Leipzig again at the top.
90 min +1: What a curate’s egg of a performance by Lewandowski, who has looked off the boil for the most part! A series of wild shots, but he’s poached one, rolled in a penalty, and finished the evening with a pearler! Gerd Muller’s 40-goal Bundesliga record from 1971-72 is well in his sights now!
A hat-trick for Lewandowski, his 14th for Bayern, and his 31st goal of the season. Davies plays a low diagonal pass infield from the left, Lewandowski lashing a glorious shot into the bottom left!
This had been coming. Can is barged off the ball by Sane. Bayern stream forward. The ball drops to Goretzka, on the edge of the box. He sweeps a volley into the bottom left. No real pace, but that’s a forensic strike. What a comeback!
87 min: Tigges, spotting Neuer on walkabout, whips a speculative effort goalwards from the centre circle. It’s not a bad idea, and pretty well executed, but Neuer gets himself back into position quickly, and claims. What a smash-and-grab that would have been!
85 min: Dortmund are hanging on here, tired and making more mistakes. Morey, trying to shepherd the ball out of play, allows Davies to scamper along the byline on the left. Dortmund half-clear, but Lewandowski is soon challenging for the ball at the left-hand post. The visitors just about get away with it.
84 min: Gnabry chests down a seriously poor Hummels pass out from the back and bowls down the left. The Dortmund defender is very fortunate that Gnabry’s cross is hopeless, flying over everyone’s head.
82 min: Sule meets this one, sending a header flashing wide left. Had that been on target, it’s not clear that Hitz would have reached it. Dortmund hearts very much in mouths.
81 min: Sane moves up a gear on the right and crosses deep. Morey is forced to head out for yet another Bayern corner. The set piece is worked back to Kimmich, who looks to curl one into the top right. It’s deflected out for a corner on the other side.
79 min: Kimmich nearly releases Muller down the inside-right channel with a delicate diagonal wedge. Just a little too much juice on the pass and it flies out for a goal kick.
78 min: Gnabry has another dig from distance. He drags it well wide right.
76 min: Reus makes way for Reinier, passing the captain’s armband to Hummels as he departs.
74 min: Gnabry digs out a shot from the edge of a crowded D. The ball takes a deflection and nearly loops into the top right. Hitz needs every inch to pluck the ball out of the sky before it nestles in the net.
73 min: Bellingham’s first task is to clear the first of a couple of Bayern corners, as the home team look for the winner. Can deals with the second.
71 min: Dortmund throw on a couple of other players. Bellingham and Morey come on for Delaney and Zagadou.
70 min: That’s a costly last-ditch intervention, though. Boateng has damaged his hamstring and must be replaced by Martinez.
69 min: The power of the clap is illustrated as Dahoud nearly releases Reus down the middle with a forensic pass. He’s denied by Boateng, who stretches to poke the ball away from Reus.
68 min: Dortmund continue to struggle to break into the Bayern half. On the touchline, their interim boss Edin Terzic claps his hands in an encouraging manner.
66 min: Gnabry, who came on last weekend against Cologne to score a couple of goals, replaces Coman.
64 min: Neuer takes a careless swipe at a clearance, slicing hysterically, but he gets away with it. A lack of concentration, perhaps, the intensity of this game having dropped dramatically.
62 min: Sane battles for a long ball down the middle, and cushions it into the path of Lewandowski, who shanks wide and high. He doesn’t look right on top of his game this evening, having taken a few wild swipes now. He’s still scored twice, though!
61 min: Haaland is getting some treatment to a wound on his ankle. He doesn’t look in any distress, though. Precautionary, with a big Champions League tie against Sevilla coming up.
60 min: Dortmund aren’t taking any chances with Haaland, after those scrapes with Boateng and Kimmich, and he’s replaced by Tigges, while Brandt replaces Hazard. Some much-needed fresh legs for the visitors.
59 min: Coman embraces his inner Garrincha and dribbles down the left in the 1950s style. It’s a glorious ball-glued-to-boot run, and it really doesn’t matter that there’s no end product. Lovely to watch.
57 min: A slight lull in proceedings, which will be welcomed by Dortmund, who have done most of the chasing and scurrying this evening.
55 min: Haaland has taken a couple of sly knocks from Boateng and Kimmich. He’s not totally happy about it, but the referee doesn’t show any interest.
53 min: Sane crosses from the right. Hummels clears with a very pleasing low and perfectly horizontal diving header. The sort John Terry used to specialise in. Like someone fly-tipping a roll of carpet out the back of a speeding van.
51 min: Bayern set about re-establishing their territorial dominance. This could be a long half for Dortmund, unless they can successfully spring Haaland away on the counter once or twice.
49 min: Kimmich in the thick of the action. He comes together with Reus in his own area. Dortmund want the penalty, but it looks as though Reus, dangling his leg behind, was trying to instigate the contact. They’re not getting a spot kick of their own. Seconds later, Kimmich slaps a shot from distance straight at Hitz. The keeper should claim easily, but spills the shot off his chest. He does extremely well to block Coman, who tries to force the loose ball home. Nearly a calamity.
47 min: So close to another sensational start for Dortmund! Schulz crosses deep from the left. The ball’s too high for Haaland, but drops to Dahoud, who lashes into the side netting. Neuer may have had that covered, though the shot was travelling and would have taken some stopping.
Dortmund get the second half underway. Neither manager has made any half-time changes.
Half-time checklist. Make cup of tea. Put out bins. Personal hygienic tasks in the Little Room. Subscribe to occasionally moderately amusing daily football email. Check, check, check, check ... and relax.
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It’s fair to say the much-trumpeted Lewandowski-Haaland shootout has delivered. What a breathlessly entertaining half of football. Mehr Bitte!
45 min +1: The corner is half-cleared, falling to Alaba, 25 yards out. Alaba peals a wild effort high over the bar.
45 min: Sane and Sule combine to win a corner down the right. They couldn’t, could they?
A hop and a skip, and Lewandowski rolls the penalty into the bottom left, Hitz having been sent the wrong way.
43 min: Yep! It’s a spot kick! Clearly the right decision.
42 min: Coman dribbles down the left and into the box. He cuts back hoping to pass Dahoud. He goes over. The referee isn’t interested, and Dortmund break through Reus, who is upended by Kimmich. However, after the stop in play, VAR intervenes. It looks like Dahoud clipped Coman.
40 min: A long punt finds Haaland on the edge of the Bayern box. He brings it down elegantly, thinks about a curler, then tries to wedge a pass infield for Reus. Nope. But that’s a reminder that, for all of Bayern’s pressure, it wouldn’t take too much for Dortmund to re-establish their two-goal lead.
39 min: Alaba shovels a pass down the left. It should release Coman into the box, but he decides to check back instead of striding goalwards, and the chance is gone. Bayern work the ball around to Lewandowski, who slots a perfect rugby conversion from 20 yards.
37 min: Hummels professionally clips Coman as the Bayern winger makes his way down the left. He’s fortunate not to see yellow for that. Zagadou heads the resulting free kick clear.
35 min: Sule barges down the middle and nearly breaks clear. Then Muller tries a similar tactic out on the left, only to run the ball out for a goal kick. The wind is definitely in the Bayern sail.
34 min: It’s effectively attack versus defence now. Dortmund look tuckered out after their fast start.
32 min: Sane is a constant menace. His cute backheel down the inside-right channel tees up Lewandowski just inside the box. Lewandowski swivels and aims for the bottom left. Hummels sticks his boot in to deflect and clear. Dortmund are hanging on a bit here.
31 min: No. The ball clearly hit Reus on the shoulder. We play on.
30 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Bayern come again, though, Coman crossing, the ball pinging off the shoulder of Reus. Bayern want a penalty, and there’s going to be a VAR check.
29 min: From a tight angle on the left, Coman pearls a shot towards the near post, Hitz kicking away splendidly. Then, as Coman tries to recycle possession, Meunier kicks him not so splendidly. A yellow card for the Dortmund right-back. It’s not been a banner four minutes for Meunier.
28 min: Lewandowski, the blood pumping, picks up a yellow card for a late clatter on Dahoud. This is breathless stuff.
What a costly mistake that was, because seconds after Dortmund spurn a chance to make it 0-3, Bayern reduce the arrears to a single goal! Sane drops a shoulder to make space down the right, fires a low cross-cum-shot towards the bottom left. Lewandowski is on hand to slam home for his 29th goal of the season!
25 min: And again! Dahoud slips Meunier into the box on the right. Meunier is entitled to shoot, and probably should have done, because his attempt to tee up Haaland in the middle is no good and easily cleared. It should be three.
24 min: But they get out this time, and Haaland, already on a hat-trick, romps into space down the left. He comes inside hoping to shoot, but Boateng and Alaba combine to close down his options. For a second, a jaw-dropping third goal looked on the cards.
23 min: It’s all Bayern, and the match is now being played solely in Dortmund’s final third. The visitors can’t get out, no matter how often they intercept and try to launch a quick counter. The ball keeps coming back.
21 min: Sane drops a shoulder to make good down the right. He reaches the box but no opportunity to shoot presents itself, and he can’t find anyone with his cutback.
19 min: Here’s one! Sule swings one in from the right. Goretzka chests down, the ball dropping to Lewandowski on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. You’d expect him to at least work the keeper - you’d expect him to score, really - but instead he pulls a shot into the side netting. A decent chance and an uncharacteristic outcome.
18 min: Lewandowski flicks a speculative effort over the bar from 25 yards. He’s not had a serious sniff yet. There’s time.
17 min: Kimmich, deep on the left, swings a high ball towards Sane, rising at the far post, a couple of yards out. He’s not far away from steering a header home from a tight angle, Hitz having got his angles all wrong, but the ball clears the crossbar, just. Close to a goal that would change the mood.
16 min: Bayern are enjoying the lion’s share of possession, pressing Dortmund back, but the final pass is lacking.
14 min: Davies whips a ball into the Dortmund box from the left. It somehow evades Lewandowski and Sane, plus several yellow shirts and the keeper, flying harmlessly out of the box on the other side.
13 min: This sort of thing doesn’t happen to Bayern Munich very often. It’s going to be interesting to see how the German, European and world champions respond to this.
11 min: It’s a good time to point out BVB’s recent record here at the Allianz Arena. They’ve not won here since 2014, losing on their last six visits by an aggregate score of 24-2. Now look! A long way to go, obviously, but still.
There’s no stopping this guy! Dahoud plays a first-time diagonal pass to release Schulz into acres down the left. Schulz feeds Hazard on the overlap. Neuer comes, but he’s not getting there before Hazard, who rolls infield for Haaland, who taps into an unguarded net. This is sensational!
7 min: Hazard spreads a lovely diagonal ball towards Meunier on the right. Again he finds Haaland in the middle, but there’s not quite enough room for the striker to line up a shot, and he’s unable to wriggle free into the box. Dortmund causing havoc down this flank.
5 min: Goretzka is good to go again. That’s an eventful start all right.
4 min: Bayern try to hit back immediately from a free kick 30 yards out. Kimmich sends it wide left for Coman, who crosses into the mixer. Goretzka rises, hoping to head home, but Hitz comes out and punches powerfully clear. He gets a bit of Goretzka too, collateral damage. On come the trainers to apply some wet sponge to a sore noggin.
What a start for Dortmund! Hummels sprays the ball wide right for Meunier, who loops infield. The ball breaks to Haaland, 25 yards out in a central position. He takes aim for the bottom right. There’s a slight nick off Boateng, and it whistles into the corner, away from the despairing lunge of Neuer. That took 74 seconds.
Bayern get the party started ... but only after a long wait for Joshua Kimmich to deal with an intransigent bootlace. He eventually wins the battle and we’re off.
The teams are out! Bayern in red ...
In other early Bundesliga news, Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 at Borussia Monchengladbach, taking Dortmund’s fifth place from them. But there was better news for BVB elsewhere: third-placed Wolfsburg lost 2-1 at Hoffenheim, while fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt were held 1-1 at home by Stuttgart. Should Dortmund turn over Bayern this evening, they’ll make up some ground in the race for a top-four Champions League spot. Worst case, they’re not going to lose too much ground.
RB Leipzig have taken over from Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga table. They’ve just closed out a 3-0 win at Freiburg, their sixth league victory in a row, Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emil Forsberg with the goals. That means Bayern need at least a point tonight to regain leadership on goal difference; a win will restore the two-point cushion they had this morning. Whatever happens this evening, Julian Nagelsmann’s team will be in good spirits ahead of their Champions League last-16 second-leg against Liverpool on Wednesday. They’re certainly in much better form than their opponents, whose first-leg 2-0 lead looks far less comfortable right now than it normally would.
Bayern make two changes to the side named for the 5-1 win against Cologne last week. Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman replace Eric Choupo-Moting and Jamal Musiala, who both drop to the bench. Serge Gnabry, not long back from injury, is also named as sub despite scoring two late goals against Cologne.
Dortmund make four changes to the team selected for the midweek 1-0 German Cup win at Borussia Monchengladbach. Thorgan Hazard, Nico Schulz, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Thomas Meunier are in; Mateu Morey and Jude Bellingham drop to the bench, while Jadon Sancho and Raphael Guerreiro are missing altogether after picking up injuries against the Foals.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Süle, Boateng, Alaba, Davies, Kimmich, Goretzka, Sane, Müller, Coman, Lewandowski.
Subs: Hoffmann, Gnabry, Martinez, Choupo-Moting, Sarr, Hernandez, Roca, Dantas, Musiala.
Borussia Dortmund: Hitz, Meunier, Hummels, Zagadou, Schulz, Can, Delaney, Reus, Dahoud, Hazard, Haaland.
Subs: Bürki, Morey, Moukoko, Brandt, Reinier, Bellingham, Piszczek, Tigges, Passlack.
Willkommen, Bundesliga-Fans, Hipster und andere Zeitverschwender, zur minutengenauen Live-Berichterstattung des Guardian über Der Klassiker! The two giants of modern-day German football, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, meet for the 129th time this evening at the Allianz Arena, with the 2020-21 title very much on the line. Not for Dortmund, you understand; they’re well out of the race, trailing Bayern by 13 points. But the hosts have it all to play for, as they strive to stay ahead of RB Leipzig at the top.
The recent results of Der Klassiker suggest Bayern will get the win they crave. Back in November, they won 3-2 in Dortmund, their fourth consecutive win against their rivals. It was also their seventh victory in the last eight, a sequence that has included some proper thumpings: 4-0, 4-1, 5-0, 6-0. They’ve got Dortmund’s number right now.
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