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| Concern for Bayern's Red Machine as Dortmund put three spanners in works | Concern for Bayern's Red Machine as Dortmund put three spanners in works |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Borussia Dortmund were suffering a season "in the shadow of the red giant," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had written on the day of the game. But after the Black and Yellows' 3-0 win at the Allianz Arena, the sun was shining on them again and the roles were suddenly reversed – perhaps to the point where it became a little uncomfortable for both teams. | Borussia Dortmund were suffering a season "in the shadow of the red giant," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had written on the day of the game. But after the Black and Yellows' 3-0 win at the Allianz Arena, the sun was shining on them again and the roles were suddenly reversed – perhaps to the point where it became a little uncomfortable for both teams. |
| Bayern, for their part, looked so decidedly second best against Jürgen Klopp's high-pressing, devastatingly quick Kontermaschine that they left the stadium utterly frustrated. It was their first home defeat since October 2012. Rafinha's red card – the Brazilian practised his "claw of death" move on Henrikh Mkhitaryan's cheek – was the proverbial Scheiß-ing on the cake. He'll be suspended for three games. | Bayern, for their part, looked so decidedly second best against Jürgen Klopp's high-pressing, devastatingly quick Kontermaschine that they left the stadium utterly frustrated. It was their first home defeat since October 2012. Rafinha's red card – the Brazilian practised his "claw of death" move on Henrikh Mkhitaryan's cheek – was the proverbial Scheiß-ing on the cake. He'll be suspended for three games. |
| At Wembley, in the German final, the Reds had scratched their big two itches, winning the Champions League and breaking the spell that Dortmund held over them. After one and a-half seasons of red dominance in the most engrossing rivalry the Bundesliga has witnessed this century, the embarrassing manner of the reversal on Saturday seemed to shift the psychological balance back in Dortmund's favour. They're the Bavarians' bogey team once more, the stuff of potential nightmares. If both clubs win their respective semi-finals this week – Dortmund take on Wolfsburg on Tuesday, Bayern host second division Kaiserslautern – 17 May will see a repeat of the 2012 Cup final. Dortmund won that match 5-2 and possibly inflicted damage beyond that competition: Bayern failed to beat Chelsea in the Champions League one week later. | |
| Klopp, who's off to Manchester United, Tottenham and Barcelona in the summer, before taking on the England job later this year, sounded genuine when he denied that his team might delight in the chance to ruin Bayern's sensational campaign – "I've never tried to ruin anything for anyone, I'm interested in winning, that's all," he told ZDF Sportstudio – but that doesn't make life easier for Pep Guardiola, of course. Dortmund, written off a million times this season, have proved much more resilient than many anticipated. They're still a bit of a pest, they will probably once again stand between the "March champions" and their quest for the treble, and their confidence will be higher than at any point since they won the double in Berlin two years ago. "Bayern are beatable, that felt good," admitted Borussia's captain, Sebastian Kehl. The fact that they largely did it without Bayern-bound Robert Lewandowski (only on for 30 minutes as a sub) was important, too. The apparent inability to replace the Pole adequately had irked the team. | Klopp, who's off to Manchester United, Tottenham and Barcelona in the summer, before taking on the England job later this year, sounded genuine when he denied that his team might delight in the chance to ruin Bayern's sensational campaign – "I've never tried to ruin anything for anyone, I'm interested in winning, that's all," he told ZDF Sportstudio – but that doesn't make life easier for Pep Guardiola, of course. Dortmund, written off a million times this season, have proved much more resilient than many anticipated. They're still a bit of a pest, they will probably once again stand between the "March champions" and their quest for the treble, and their confidence will be higher than at any point since they won the double in Berlin two years ago. "Bayern are beatable, that felt good," admitted Borussia's captain, Sebastian Kehl. The fact that they largely did it without Bayern-bound Robert Lewandowski (only on for 30 minutes as a sub) was important, too. The apparent inability to replace the Pole adequately had irked the team. |
| But that was only half of the story. Dortmund, ironically, also experienced what it feels like to have Bayern's biggest problem in the Bundesliga this season – that of recognition. The goalscorers Marco Reus, Mkhitaryan, the young Jonas Hofmann and the rest of Klopp's running club had been so utterly superior ("a brutally good team performance," their manager called it) that most people seemed more interested to zoom-in on the low level of resistance the opposition had offered. The result was so emphatic, the match so lopsided, that it put them, not a Bayern team who had played "without electricity" (Süddeutsche Zeitung), on the defensive. The visitors had to win the game all over again after the final whistle when it dawned on them that the hosts' flat, lazy and disorganised performance was threatening to devalue their own achievement. | But that was only half of the story. Dortmund, ironically, also experienced what it feels like to have Bayern's biggest problem in the Bundesliga this season – that of recognition. The goalscorers Marco Reus, Mkhitaryan, the young Jonas Hofmann and the rest of Klopp's running club had been so utterly superior ("a brutally good team performance," their manager called it) that most people seemed more interested to zoom-in on the low level of resistance the opposition had offered. The result was so emphatic, the match so lopsided, that it put them, not a Bayern team who had played "without electricity" (Süddeutsche Zeitung), on the defensive. The visitors had to win the game all over again after the final whistle when it dawned on them that the hosts' flat, lazy and disorganised performance was threatening to devalue their own achievement. |
| "Of course they wanted to win today, you could see that on the pitch," insisted idfielder Nuri Sahin. Dortmund president Rainhard Rauball praised his sides's gutsy, high defensive line and proudly spoke of a "fantastic performance from us that had nothing to do with Bayern not wanting it or something like that". Pressed on the obvious motivational problems of Guardiola's team, he refused to comment and walked away, a little miffed. | "Of course they wanted to win today, you could see that on the pitch," insisted idfielder Nuri Sahin. Dortmund president Rainhard Rauball praised his sides's gutsy, high defensive line and proudly spoke of a "fantastic performance from us that had nothing to do with Bayern not wanting it or something like that". Pressed on the obvious motivational problems of Guardiola's team, he refused to comment and walked away, a little miffed. |
| To his credit, Klopp's assessment of the opposition was more balanced. It was naturally difficult to keep up the intensity, he said, and predicted that Bayern would again be "on point in the semi-final against Real Madrid" next week. Matthias Sammer agreed. "We have to watch out, but we have to accept that the players are not robots," said the Bayern sporting director. That, if truth be told, is something that has very rarely been accepted in Munich, where "winning everything is not enough," as Pep Guardiola put it last week. But the absurdly early defence of the championship has created a situation that no one is familiar with. | To his credit, Klopp's assessment of the opposition was more balanced. It was naturally difficult to keep up the intensity, he said, and predicted that Bayern would again be "on point in the semi-final against Real Madrid" next week. Matthias Sammer agreed. "We have to watch out, but we have to accept that the players are not robots," said the Bayern sporting director. That, if truth be told, is something that has very rarely been accepted in Munich, where "winning everything is not enough," as Pep Guardiola put it last week. But the absurdly early defence of the championship has created a situation that no one is familiar with. |
| Guardiola mostly blamed himself for the third winless league game in a row. "I have made a mistake, I need to find a trick, we need to react quickly," said the Catalan. But how? He had repeated the mantra that the Bundesliga was "over" after the 3-1 win over Manchester United on Wednesday, and the players had listened to him. Since they have secured the title against Hertha at the end of March, "it's gone pfft," said the 43-year-old. The Bayern airliner that had been cruising far above the clouds has suffered a drop in pressure and taken a bit of a dive. "It's hard without pressure," said Thomas Müller, "the hunger is missing". The sense of rhythm has also gone. Guardiola's rotation policy has kept the squad happy but disrupted the flow. | Guardiola mostly blamed himself for the third winless league game in a row. "I have made a mistake, I need to find a trick, we need to react quickly," said the Catalan. But how? He had repeated the mantra that the Bundesliga was "over" after the 3-1 win over Manchester United on Wednesday, and the players had listened to him. Since they have secured the title against Hertha at the end of March, "it's gone pfft," said the 43-year-old. The Bayern airliner that had been cruising far above the clouds has suffered a drop in pressure and taken a bit of a dive. "It's hard without pressure," said Thomas Müller, "the hunger is missing". The sense of rhythm has also gone. Guardiola's rotation policy has kept the squad happy but disrupted the flow. |
| Despite his public show of contrition, it's hard to tell how concerned the coach really is. The 43-year-old obviously felt that his team needed a breather, and he has revealed himself a much more cold-hearted, pragmatic coach than the "Saint Pep" cliché suggested: he's interested in winning titles, first and foremost. So are his employers. The Dortmund game will be quickly forgotten if Bayern reach the finals of the DFB Cup and the Champions League over the next two weeks days. In the wider scheme of things it might even be useful. It proved to all of Germany and the rest of football that a few missing percentage points are enough to level the playing field, even if your team is much better. Their run of unbeaten games had blinded many to that principle. | Despite his public show of contrition, it's hard to tell how concerned the coach really is. The 43-year-old obviously felt that his team needed a breather, and he has revealed himself a much more cold-hearted, pragmatic coach than the "Saint Pep" cliché suggested: he's interested in winning titles, first and foremost. So are his employers. The Dortmund game will be quickly forgotten if Bayern reach the finals of the DFB Cup and the Champions League over the next two weeks days. In the wider scheme of things it might even be useful. It proved to all of Germany and the rest of football that a few missing percentage points are enough to level the playing field, even if your team is much better. Their run of unbeaten games had blinded many to that principle. |
| The players, too, will remember that the air of invincibility that followed them throughout the first eight months of the campaign was the result of hard work and professionalism meeting extraordinary – not god-given – talent. That explained why Sammer, a man who never ventures out of the house without a raised index finger, seemed so relaxed about the result. It confirmed him and his never-ending alarms. "It's good when not everything is good," he said. | The players, too, will remember that the air of invincibility that followed them throughout the first eight months of the campaign was the result of hard work and professionalism meeting extraordinary – not god-given – talent. That explained why Sammer, a man who never ventures out of the house without a raised index finger, seemed so relaxed about the result. It confirmed him and his never-ending alarms. "It's good when not everything is good," he said. |
| Talking points | Talking points |
| • Things weren't really good between the Bayern and Dortmund club bosses during the week, either. For reasons that are hard to fathom, Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke had felt the need to rehash the long-forgotten topic of Bayern's €2m loan to his club in 2005 and insisted that Bayern didn't save Dortmund and that Uli Hoeness had not been "Mother Theresa" but in fact charged 8% interest. (It was 5%, it later transpired). The future Bayern president, Karl Hopfner, then angrily called Watzke a liar – in as many words – which in turn saw Watzke hint at the lack of credibility in the Munich board following Hoeness' conviction of tax evasion. The traditional pre-match lunch in Munich was duly cancelled by the Dortmund bosses but Rauball has now mercifully declared this school-yard level argument as over. | • Things weren't really good between the Bayern and Dortmund club bosses during the week, either. For reasons that are hard to fathom, Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke had felt the need to rehash the long-forgotten topic of Bayern's €2m loan to his club in 2005 and insisted that Bayern didn't save Dortmund and that Uli Hoeness had not been "Mother Theresa" but in fact charged 8% interest. (It was 5%, it later transpired). The future Bayern president, Karl Hopfner, then angrily called Watzke a liar – in as many words – which in turn saw Watzke hint at the lack of credibility in the Munich board following Hoeness' conviction of tax evasion. The traditional pre-match lunch in Munich was duly cancelled by the Dortmund bosses but Rauball has now mercifully declared this school-yard level argument as over. |
| • Before the "small" northern derby between Hannover and Hamburg on Saturday, the joke had been that former 96 coach Mirko Slomka had kindly ruined the Hannover squad ahead of his visit in his new role. Or was it perhaps the other way round? Hamburg, in any case, put on another disastrous show in the 2-1 defeat. It was Slomka's 12th defeat away from home in the league (eight with Hannover, four with HSV) in a row this season. The visitors were lucky that Braunschweig (2-0 at Freiburg) and Nürnberg (4-1 at Wolfsburg) also lost further down the table, even if these are the only two teams left behind them at this stage. | • Before the "small" northern derby between Hannover and Hamburg on Saturday, the joke had been that former 96 coach Mirko Slomka had kindly ruined the Hannover squad ahead of his visit in his new role. Or was it perhaps the other way round? Hamburg, in any case, put on another disastrous show in the 2-1 defeat. It was Slomka's 12th defeat away from home in the league (eight with Hannover, four with HSV) in a row this season. The visitors were lucky that Braunschweig (2-0 at Freiburg) and Nürnberg (4-1 at Wolfsburg) also lost further down the table, even if these are the only two teams left behind them at this stage. |
| • Huub Stevens was supposed to bring in experience and a ton of clean sheets but VfB Stuttgart involuntary continue to party like it's 1999. At Gladbach, they conceded another late goal – their 18th in the final 15 minutes this season – to see three points shrink down to one. "It's inexplicable," said sporting director Fredi Bobic. Stuttgart had been much the better side and taken the lead through Daniel Didavi but Juan Arango's 89th-minute equaliser ensured that their relegation troubles persist. Lucien Favre could also not have been pleased with the draw, as the Foals slipped out of the fourth spot again when Leverkusen beat Hertha 2-1 with goals from Stefan Kiessling and Julian Brandt under new coach Sascha Lewandowski. The Swiss manager, however, seemed more concerned to add his two Rappen to the age-old debate whether the crowd were entitled to boo their own team in the stadium. "The people who jeered were born stupid and won't die intelligent," Favre declared, with refreshing candour. | • Huub Stevens was supposed to bring in experience and a ton of clean sheets but VfB Stuttgart involuntary continue to party like it's 1999. At Gladbach, they conceded another late goal – their 18th in the final 15 minutes this season – to see three points shrink down to one. "It's inexplicable," said sporting director Fredi Bobic. Stuttgart had been much the better side and taken the lead through Daniel Didavi but Juan Arango's 89th-minute equaliser ensured that their relegation troubles persist. Lucien Favre could also not have been pleased with the draw, as the Foals slipped out of the fourth spot again when Leverkusen beat Hertha 2-1 with goals from Stefan Kiessling and Julian Brandt under new coach Sascha Lewandowski. The Swiss manager, however, seemed more concerned to add his two Rappen to the age-old debate whether the crowd were entitled to boo their own team in the stadium. "The people who jeered were born stupid and won't die intelligent," Favre declared, with refreshing candour. |
| Results: Schalke 2-0 Frabkfurt, Freiburg 2-0 Braunschweig, Hannover 2-1 Hamburg, Mainz 3-0 Bremen, Wolfsburg 4-1 Nürnberg, Gladbach 1-1 Stuttgart, Bayern 0-3 Dortmund, Leverkusen 2-1 Hertha, Hoffenheim 2-0 Augsburg. | Results: Schalke 2-0 Frabkfurt, Freiburg 2-0 Braunschweig, Hannover 2-1 Hamburg, Mainz 3-0 Bremen, Wolfsburg 4-1 Nürnberg, Gladbach 1-1 Stuttgart, Bayern 0-3 Dortmund, Leverkusen 2-1 Hertha, Hoffenheim 2-0 Augsburg. |