Ajax

Dortmund hold their nerve to show Bayern they are in a real title race | Andy Brassell

10-Apr-2023 13:38:35 | The Guardian

Both sides felt the strain on Saturday as the champions edged Freiburg and the challengers found a way past Union

“We only have one competition left,” said Sebastian Kehl, Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director. “But we’re fully in the race.” That had not always been a given on a Bundesliga Super Saturday which was more of a Squeaky Bum Saturday, to paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson. The jitters were not restricted to Borussia Dortmund either.

Some 500km to the south, as Bayern Munich eked out their own narrow win to maintain the status quo in the title race, Joshua Kimmich clenched both fists and roared at the Freiburg fans, to widespread disapproval on all sides. It was a reaction, said the captain, to “provocation” from the stadium announcer, who had the temerity to celebrate Christian Streich’s side knocking the league champions out of the German Cup. “I let myself get carried away,” was the closest that Kimmich came to contrition.