Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund – as it happened
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http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2014/nov/01/bayern-munich-borussia-dortmund-live Version 0 of 1. 7.35pm GMT19:35 Anyway, that’s us done with Der Klassiker for this time. It did not disappoint. Perhaps this fixture really is carving out a legacy, a tradition. Certainly cannot wait until the rematch at Signal Iduna Park. Perhaps we’ll meet again for that one, who knows? Either way, enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for your emails – even the pedantic ones. Cheerio. 7.32pm GMT19:32 And from a phlegmatic Stephan Kroll: “Bayern 2-1 over Dortmund. It is getting silly. Why not skip the unimportant stuff and fast forward directly to the Champions League semis with Bayern, Real, Barcelona and Chelsea?” BECAUSE WE’D THEN MISS THE GREAT GAMES INBETWEEN, LIKE THIS ONE. 7.31pm GMT19:31 From Deyvani Ramamoorthy: “Somehow, I’ve managed to sign myself up for a science fest in school tomorrow, so there goes my Sunday. Does that stop me from watching this cracker at nearly 1am? Naaah. I’ll have black and yellow circles under my eyes at school tomorrow.” That sounds....violent. Updated at 7.35pm GMT 7.30pm GMT19:30 What’s the opposite of a preamble? Postamble? Whatever. You have to feel sorry for Jurgen Klopp’s team. They were excellent in the first half and, while you always have to ride your luck slightly against Bayern, deserved their lead. Their gameplan worked perfectly. They were pegged back far more after the break but Ribery’s arrival with 20 minutes to play was evidence that Bayern needed something different – and time was running out. Well, he certainly did produce something different. Or rather, something extremely dangerous in duplicate. Suddenly, a slightly labouring Bayern had more turbo-charged dynamism to contend with than that of Arjen Robben, and Ribery instantly got in on the action with what we’ll call a half-assist for Lewandowski’s goal. There was an element of fortune in how Subotic’s interception fell to him, but it was taken superbly. Ribery was very much to the for after that and was eventually fouled by Subotic for the spot kick. In the end, Bayern had one too many clubs in their bag, and their utter relentlessness won out. They continue to steam on at the top despite not having been at their best; Dortmund are, it’s very safe to say, in a false position but five league defeats on the trot is a thoroughly miserable run for them and things will need to turn around quickly. 7.24pm GMT19:24 And it is! FULL-TIME: Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund The late spot-kick won it. Updated at 7.38pm GMT 7.24pm GMT19:24 90+4 min: One last BVB free kick. Durm takes. A spot of head tennis but there’s an offside in there somewhere and that must surely be that.... 7.23pm GMT19:23 90+3 min: Weidenfeller goes up for it! And he challenges Neuer for the cross! But his counterpart comes out, oozes confidence, catches the ball and sinks down onto it. 7.22pm GMT19:22 90+2 min: Free-kick to BVB though, midway inside the Bayern half. Big guns go forwards. Boateng heads behind for a corner and they’ve one last chance... 7.22pm GMT19:22 90+1 min: But BVB seem to have gone here, really. You have to give Bayern praise. They’ve kept going, kept probing and have totally dominated this second half. 7.21pm GMT19:21 90 min: Three minutes of added time to go.... 7.19pm GMT19:19 89 min: Subotic was booked for the foul on Ribery, by the way. I’d really need to see that tussle again. 7.18pm GMT19:18 88 min: Sebastian Rode on, Lewandowski – whose instinctive finish, knowing exactly where Weidenfeller was(n’t) off. 7.18pm GMT19:18 87 min: So, so cruel on BVB but you can’t see a way back now. This is just proof positive of Bayern’s extra Ribery-centred resources that we talked about at the top of the show. He upped them a gear from the moment of his introduction and they have been streets ahead since then. 7.16pm GMT19:16 GOAL: Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (Robben pen 85) Robben sends Weidenfeller the wrong way, converting low to his right. Dortmund will be distraught. Ribery has changed this game since coming on. It’s been like facing two Robbens. Updated at 7.36pm GMT 7.15pm GMT19:15 Penalty to Bayern Munich! Ribery runs in behind Subotic, there’s some grappling by both, Subotic has an arm across, Ribery goes down....spot kick given! 7.15pm GMT19:15 84 min: And a chance for the 36-year-old! Pizarro is found in space inside the area by a great bit of skill from Lewandowski, but he opts to shoot and it’s saved but.....oh..... 7.13pm GMT19:13 82 min: I Smith – “I probably sound like a smart-arse, but it’s Ribéry with an acute accent.” No, no. I’m learning so much here. 7.12pm GMT19:12 81 min: Here comes Claudio Pizarro, the old Peruvian fox. He’s on for Muller, for whom things have not quite clicked. BVB make their own South American attacking change too, the Colombian Adrian Ramos on for Aubameyang. Fresh legs apiece. Updated at 7.12pm GMT 7.11pm GMT19:11 80 min: Robben, this time appearing on the left, has a cross deflected upwards and Sokratis has to snick it away from Muller. Then Reus does manage a bit of a counter and rakes one towards Aubameyang, but Boateng nods back to Neuer. 7.09pm GMT19:09 79 min: Bayern seeing all of the ball now. And that means even more than earlier in the half. Have BVB got one more rapier-like counter in them? 7.06pm GMT19:06 76 min: Literally 20 seconds before that goal, BVB brought on the more ‘artisanal’ Grosskreutz for Kagawa and perhaps Klopp will regret that now. It looks as if they’ll be hanging on for 20 minutes here. 7.04pm GMT19:04 73 min: There we go. Ribery is straight into action and looks to play Robben in down the inside-left channel. Subotic stretches to prevent the chance but only diverts the ball to Lewandowski who, with expert instinct, knows Weidenfeller won’t be set and swishes a clinical 20-yarder low to his left. The ‘keeper is too far to his right, having prepared to face Robben, but it’s not his fault. Very nice, instinctive stuff but also rather loose from Dortmund, who have been put in trouble by their former hero now. Updated at 7.05pm GMT 7.02pm GMT19:02 GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-1 Borussia Dortmund (Lewandowski 72) Of course it was him. Updated at 7.33pm GMT 7.01pm GMT19:01 71 min: Dortmund win a rare corner, taken from the right by Kagawa. I’m too busy feeling utterly depressed at the fans dressed in ‘T-Mobile’ formation behind the flag to notice Neuer catching the cross with ease. 7.00pm GMT19:00 70 min: Well, *here* comes Franck Ribery, as a long and ultimately meandering passage of play had to burn itself out first. The Frenchman comes on for Mario Gotze, who has been disappointing tonight and not always quite up with the pace. 6.58pm GMT18:58 67 min: Now Bayern have a free kick, fairly centrally but a good 32 yards out. Alaba’s shot is woeful and nowhere near the goal. But now, here comes Franck Ribery.... 6.57pm GMT18:57 66 min: Durm has had a better handle on Robben so far this half and won’t allow the Dutchman a knock-and-run here. But, yet again, Bayern’s pressure continues and Robben receives the ball again. He’s doubled up on now and his obligatory shot is attempted at a slightly awkward angle and saved easily. 6.55pm GMT18:55 65 min: Somehow Benatia misses at the other end! Boateng, retrieving a corner, puts a fine ball in from the right and they’re queuing up....Benatia gets up highest and, with the goal to aim at, nods wide of the right post. Should score. 6.54pm GMT18:54 64 min: Aubameyang, whose perch has been almost exclusively on the right, this time has a go at Benatia on the left side of the area and tries to cross low, but Neuer has it. 6.53pm GMT18:53 63 min: Hummels seems ok, he’s on the bench chatting away to some of BVB’s subs. They could do with him here as Bayern are off again. This time Robben finds absolutely nobody with a clip towards the box, though, and it’s a goal kick. 6.51pm GMT18:51 61 min: From Matt Dony – “Doesn’t really matter how good Reus is. The facts are; He scored the goal, Bayern are losing, and Bayern will buy him. There’s so much to love about German football, but not Bayern’s harvesting of players.” 6.51pm GMT18:51 60 min: “And it’s Götze, not Gotze,” reminds I Smith. Thanks, didn’t know. Updated at 6.52pm GMT 6.50pm GMT18:50 60 min: Not far off from Kagawa. A twist, a pirouette, and he’s got some space on the edge of the area. The resultant left-footer is not far wide. 6.49pm GMT18:49 59 min: Mkhitaryan, purposeful from the off here, takes matters into his own hands and gets BVB into Bayern’s half with a decent run. If Aubameyang had stayed onside, he could even have played him in on goal. They win a free kick moments later anyway and, from about 40 yards, Aubameyang hits a complete waste of a shot through to Neuer. He’s thrilling to watch, the Gabonese striker, but can be very frustrating too. 6.47pm GMT18:47 57 min: Lahm, operating a bit further forwards now, finds a similar area to that which he discovered at the start of the half and a clever little ball is just too strong for Lewandowski. Updated at 6.48pm GMT 6.46pm GMT18:46 55 min: Another Bayern corner. Another Alonso inswinger. A header well over by Benatia. 6.45pm GMT18:45 54 min: Muller is found all too easily on the left, behind Piszczek, and Subotic blocks his shot superbly. Again the corner comes to little. But as things stand you would be hard pressed not to see Bayern breaking through at some stage. 6.44pm GMT18:44 53 min: Hauke Wemken puts his cent’s worth towards the “How good is Reus” debate – “Well it depends. Are we looking at the number of Facebook friends and stylish bare chest photos, or are we talking about decision making on the pitch?“I think it is no secret, that our current world footballer would profit from the ‘football brain’ some other players have.” 6.43pm GMT18:43 52 min: A big miss from Lewandowski! But another great save too! The Pole is all alone eight yards out, chests down, gets his shot away, but his former team-mate Weidenfeller is out once again and makes himself so, so big to deflect the ball away. Updated at 7.00pm GMT 6.40pm GMT18:40 50 min: Muller tugs Sokratis back and there is respite for the visitors....who then attack through Aubameyang, who rather wastes the chance and shoots ambitiously high. 6.39pm GMT18:39 49 min: Dortmund haven’t been out of their half since the break and certainly won’t be wanting this to continue. 6.38pm GMT18:38 48 min: And a clearer chance now as Lahm finds a nice little pocket and slips in Robben, yet again in from the right. On the run and with Durm attending to him, he can’t quite get enough on the shot and Weidenfeller gets down to save again. 6.37pm GMT18:37 47 min: Early threat from Alonso, who is teed up by Lewandowski but sees the sting taken out of a feisty-looking dive by a deflection. It’s easy for Weidenfeller. Updated at 6.37pm GMT 6.35pm GMT18:35 Peep! The second half is underway! Don’t. Go. Anywhere. 6.34pm GMT18:34 A half-time substitution for BVB. Neven Subotic is on for Mats Hummels – presumably due to injury. That’s a blow, as Hummels has been good. 6.32pm GMT18:32 Michael Minehan asks a good question: “Where does Reus rank among the best players in the world in his position? He glides across the pitch. Incredible player and still so young.” Me, I don’t really see anyone better. He is brilliant. Constantly on turbo. So dynamic, so direct, so ambitious. Can’t take the eyes off him. Everything has purpose. Any other thoughts? 6.31pm GMT18:31 Raf is still enjoying Bundesliga Christmas, and he is right to be: I don't think we'll get all the highlights into half-time. Stunning game 6.28pm GMT18:28 Konstantin Richter asks: “If Bayern buys Reus at half-time, would his goal count for Bayern?” I don’t think it works like that. 6.21pm GMT18:21 HALF-TIME: Bayern Munich 0-1 Borussia Dortmund Well that was a rip-roarer of a half! BVB’s intent, to counter-attack with pace and width, was obvious from the start and some of their forays were right out of the Klopp textbook. They deserved their goal and probably deserve the lead too, although Bayern had a couple of very good chances after the goal and one of Robben and Müller should have scored. There is a long, long way to go in this one yet and you’d think Dortmund will have to go some if they’re to keep Bayern, who seem to create a fair bit even when not playing well, out. But they’ve come to the table here (if not the pre-match dinner table, etc etc) and it’s very nice to see. Back in a minute or two. 6.18pm GMT18:18 45+1 min: Weidenfeller punches away very well from Alonso’s deep free kick and that’s.... 6.17pm GMT18:17 45 min: Muller has to go it alone down the right, sees Durm off and does very well to win a corner. Robben takes it and it’s smuggled away. Bayern have to start again with Neuer, but there’s just a minute of added time here... 6.15pm GMT18:15 44 min: We’ve just had a couple of minutes without a goalscoring opportunity. 6.13pm GMT18:13 41 min: Another crucial interception from Bender as Lahm looks poses to convert a Muller cross. Bender has, for all the exhilarating attacking play, perhaps been the man of the half. 6.12pm GMT18:12 41 min: “The footballer’s name is Müller, with an Umlaut,” says I Smith. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, I. Updated at 6.14pm GMT 6.12pm GMT18:12 40 min: How does Robben not score?! Beautiful build-up play sees him in the clear on the left of the area, he should probably have a slash first-time but he checks inside onto his right, goes to stroke past a committed Weidenfeller and.....there’s Bender, again, to make a heroic block for a corner, which comes to nothing. Updated at 6.28pm GMT 6.10pm GMT18:10 38 min: Super save from Weidenfeller! Robben, on the right, slips a super slide-rule ball through to Muller, again running so cleverly from the other side. The goalkeeper, not dissimilarly to Neuer in the chance before the goal, is out like lightning to save with a big, strong hand. At the other end, Kagawa shoots well over. Updated at 6.25pm GMT 6.08pm GMT18:08 37 min: Yellow card for Alonso here, after a poor challenge on Mkhitaryan, who has been in the wars a bit. 6.07pm GMT18:07 35 min: But it’s not far off being 1-1 now, with Robben’s low ball just evading Muller, who from the next cross loops a header that Weidenfeller has to paw out. The ball reaches Bernat, who drills wide. 6.05pm GMT18:05 33 min: Another item of interest was that the move that led to that Aubameyang opportunity was begun by the striker himself when, not for the first time, Gotze was robbed deep inside his own half. Dortmund have had their tails up here and Bayern have been ponderous in exactly the wrong areas. Updated at 6.07pm GMT 6.04pm GMT18:04 32 min: After that Aubameyang chance, Bayern went up the other end and Weidenfeller got ahead of Robben. Dortmund quickly recycled the ball and Kagawa found Aubameyang, yet again, down the right. This time he found exactly the right cross, and Reus had stolen in from the left to get across his man, and he converted a superb header down to Neuer’s right! And you know what, they really deserve it. This, at times, has been everything that we’ve loved about BVB in the last few years. Updated at 6.22pm GMT 6.02pm GMT18:02 GOAL! Bayern Munich 0-1 Borussia Dortmund (Marco Reus 31) Textbook BVB. Really Updated at 6.21pm GMT 6.01pm GMT18:01 30 min: Neuer saves Bayern! Aubameyang gets in behind from a lovely Mkhitaryan ball and tries to jab it beyond the home ‘keeper...who is out as quickly as ever and makes a vital block from the game’s clearest chance so far! Updated at 6.07pm GMT 6.00pm GMT18:00 Yeah! Fair to say this one's pretty good, already. 5.59pm GMT17:59 28 min: Corner to Bayern after Sokratis challenges Muller. Alonso whips it in from the left but Sokratis, again, gets it away well. 5.57pm GMT17:57 26 min: He then gets a cross in after a nice, constructive move but Boateng heads away. And then, yes, Gotze dispossesses him. But Dortmund keep pressing and Sokratis finds Aubameyang in space with a fine long pass, but he can’t make the most of it and his cross only finds Benati. 5.56pm GMT17:56 25 min: Before that I was going to say that Bender has been very good for BVB so far. Valuable steel in the middle. He’s already dispossessed Alonso, Bernat and Gotze when they were least expecting it. 5.55pm GMT17:55 23 min: Another Robben cut inside, another left-footer. It’s shovelled away by Weidenfeller, and Benatia heads wide from the corner. 5.54pm GMT17:54 22 min: Kagawa is looking a much more ‘involved’ figure than he ever did at Manchester United and he gets the ball out to Reus, who then finds his left-back Durm, whose industry is rendered futile by the concession of a goal kick. 5.52pm GMT17:52 21 min: You can email, by the way, you really can. Your thoughts need to be heard. 5.51pm GMT17:51 20 min: Bayern’s back three is finding it tough when Dortmund hug the touchlines, stretch them out and allow Kagawa or Mkhitaryan to burst into the vacant space. It’s almost worked a couple of times. 5.49pm GMT17:49 17 min: And then....crivens....Weidenfeller’s drop-kick absolutely poleaxes Mkhitaryan, who will be dazed at best. 5.48pm GMT17:48 16 min: And Muller again! Lewandowski fizzes a ball across from the left and it’s salvaged by Gotze, who waits, waits and chips one over for Muller to bobble an acrobatic volley at Weidenfeller. Updated at 6.15pm GMT 5.47pm GMT17:47 15 min: Kagawa waits for Piszczek, a right-back of wonderful energy, to get forward and slips a ball through for him, but his cross is gathered by Neuer. Dortmund are having some joy in wide areas here. 5.45pm GMT17:45 13 min: Nearly a super goal for Bayern! Boateng drifts a ball over for Muller, running off the shoulder in the centre-forward position oh-so-cleverly, and he diverts just wide on the stretch! Lovely movement and a great spot. 5.44pm GMT17:44 13 min: Gotze feeds Lewandowski in on the left of the area but Hummels is in like a flash to get the ball away. 5.44pm GMT17:44 13 min: Klopp won’t mind this so far. The only time Bayern have really been able to work at speed was when Robben had that excellent effort. Since then, they’ve looked marginally the more purposeful. 5.42pm GMT17:42 10 min: Aubameyang looks for Reus again, right to left, and the winger has some space. He doesn’t really need to cut back but does, and he ends up scooping a shot over. 5.41pm GMT17:41 9 min: Chance for Mkhitaryan! And this was Dortmund at their best. Mkhitaryan runs, keeps going and going, across the defence and his team-mates and suddenly he has a sight of goal 18 yards out. It’s hit just wide of Neuer’s left post and he could perhaps have done better. 5.40pm GMT17:40 9 min: Muller catches Sokratis in the...errr....crown jewels and there’s some brief pain, understandably, but he gets up and the free kick releases Reus, who gets tom the byline for the first time but can’t squeeze his cross in. 5.39pm GMT17:39 7 min: You have to hand it to Robben because you know what he is going to try to do, and so does everyone else, and he tries it several times a game, but few can really stop him. 5.38pm GMT17:38 6 min: And now things come alive! Robben plays a give-and-go with Muller and thumps in a left-footer which Weidenfeller saves superbly, deflecting over the bar! Alonso’s corner is then cleared. 30 seconds later Robben gets another chance but balloons over. Updated at 5.38pm GMT 5.35pm GMT17:35 4 min: But it’s been a pretty quiet start. Durm makes a game run up the left for BVB but Robben, to mild surprise, comes back to crowd him out. 5.34pm GMT17:34 2 min: A hint of what to expect as Bayern press early on before Aubameyang tries to get away down the right. He lifts the ball a little optimistically towards Reus and Benatia mops up. 5.32pm GMT17:32 And they're off! This should be fun. 5.31pm GMT17:31 Pep Guardiola has negotiated the stairs down to the Allianz Arena tunnel expertly. A scamper down the first set; a quick pause; a pitter-patter down the second. He, and the teams, and now out. The atmosphere sounds excellent. Kick-off in a couple... 5.26pm GMT17:26 I’m still wondering what was in the dinner Dortmund’s board passed up on. It’s unlikely that Bayern will have been dishing up humble pie. 5.23pm GMT17:23 Flooding you with links to big Dortmund victories over Bayern shouldn’t be interpreted as bias; it’s more to emphasise that this particular game might not hinge too much on league position. This happened in April: 5.20pm GMT17:20 I mentioned Immobile’s four goals earlier so it would be remiss not to state that the man he replaced, Robert Lewandowski, has scored just the five so far. Mario Gotze might be the more painful one as things stand. He has seven from his role behind the striker, and has been playing sublimely of late. 5.18pm GMT17:18 I’ll buy in to this idea of Der Klassiker – why not? Both teams are tremendously entertaining and have been exceptionally successful – but it’s very much a modern thing so its name might need a spot of revision. The fixture’s Wikipedia page, for example, only lists results going back as far as 2007/08. I’d say it’s been a little longer, ups and downs notwithstanding, that these sides have both been going to honours regularly but still. 5.12pm GMT17:12 The Guardian’s own Raf Honigstein is On The Telly as we speak. If you haven’t already, you should read his pre-match words here. 5.06pm GMT17:06 It’s true, though, that Klopp’s team will need to raise themselves if they’re to do anything today. They have been ravaged by injuries at various times in the last year and might now benefit from a stable-ish back four along with the likes of Reus, Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan being fit and firing. They can only get better, surely. Of late, if this has been Klopp’s favoured heavy-metal football (that interview is well worth revisiting by the way; it’s outstanding) then it’s been more Limp Bizkit than Slayer. Or something. Which band should they be at present? That’s an invitation to email me, by the way. I talk less that way. 5.01pm GMT17:01 Don’t think Dortmund can do this? Not sure they stick one to the man? Uncertain whether Bayern can be bloodied? This happened in August: 4.57pm GMT16:57 Kick-off, I’ve neglected to mention, is 5.30pm UK time. 4.55pm GMT16:55 The two Dortmund changes from the Hannover game, by the way, see Sokratis replace Neven Subotic at centre-back Sebastian Kehl in for Ilkay Gundogan in central midfield. Ciro Immobile, who has been pretty much exactly that so far with just two Bundesliga goals to go with another pair in the Champions League, is on the bench again with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, seven goals so far, leading the line in his fleet-footed manner. Reus, of course, starts. Updated at 5.14pm GMT 4.50pm GMT16:50 So what do we think of that? I’m going to unpack that Bayern lineup for you as it’s been tweeted all out of kilter: Neuer; Boateng, Benatia, Alaba; Bernat, Lahm, Alonso; Robben, Gotze, Muller; Lewandowski. On their bench: Zingerle, Dante, Ribery, Shaqiri, Pizarro, Rafinha, Rode. Dortmund’s subs, while we’re here, are: Langerak, Subotic, Grosskreutz, Ginter, Gundogan, Immobile, Ramos. So they’re not exactly bereft themselves. Updated at 5.49pm GMT 4.42pm GMT16:42 And here are the teams! Aufstellung #FCBayern: Neuer - Alonso, Benatia, Lewandowski, Robben, Boateng, Bernat, Götze, Lahm (K), Müller, Alaba. #FCBBVB #packmas BVB: Weidenfeller - Piszczek, Sokratis, Hummels, Durm - Bender, Kehl - Mkhitaryan, Kagawa, Reus - Aubameyang #fcbbvb 4.40pm GMT16:40 It’s not really news, but Bayern’s armoury is pretty overwhelming isn’t it? They have had to do without Franck Ribery for much of the season – he has managed just 75 minutes in the Bundesliga, although he scored at Roma and again in the Hamburg win – and missed Arjen Robben last weekend. Both are raring to go now. Team news as soon as we have it.... 4.30pm GMT16:30 Wilkommen So this is A Thing now, isn’t it? Der Klassiker. The German Clasico. Mehr als ein spiel. The clash of the Bundesliga’s immovable objects. Opera plays heavy metal. Mozart hosts Motörhead. This is a global event nowadays and we, reader, are about to chew over it together. Which is more than the two clubs’ boards have done before this particular meet-up. While Dortmund might fancy themselves as being your wrong-side-of-the-tracks alternative to smug, prim Bayern, these rivals have been behaving like the Montagues and Capulets in the last few days – with the traditional pre-match dinner eschewed after a spat caused, or at least intensified, by Bayern’s apparent pursuit of Marco Reus. Subsequent attempts at diplomacy by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge who, like most who pass through Bayern’s echelons, is rarely short of a word of two, have not been entirely convincing. And not only in sentiment: Bayern’s CEO’s assertion that Dortmund will “easily qualify for the Champions League this season” is not holding a great deal of water out there on the pitch. Because this match cannot, on a glance at the Bundesliga table, be billed as one between giants just now. Bayern are four points clear at the top, as you’d expect; BVB, meanwhile, are down in 15th – they have, incredibly, lost four league games in a row and, in fact, five out of six. Last week they pummelled Hannover for most of the game at Signal Iduna Park but came away pointless after Hiroshi Kiyotake’s tasty free-kick. What on earth has gone wrong for Kloppo and company? It’s not as if they have been playing particularly badly, and in the Champions League they’ve been making hay – beating Arsenal 2-0, Anderlecht 3-0 and Galatasaray 4-0. There have been injuries, and there’s been the blow of losing Robert Lewandowski to Bayern, but the two faces BVB are showing at the moment could not be more contrasting. Maybe a 3-0 win at St Pauli in the domestic cup in midweek – Reus scored in that one – will settle them down a little. Bayern only have one face just now, and it’s a face that smiles at you kindly and almost pityingly before plunging the knife firmly in. A goalless draw at Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend was merely an anomaly in a run that has been both ridiculously good and grimly inevitable. They have hit four past Hannover, six past Werder Bremen, seven past Roma – in Italy, but you won’t have missed that – and three past Hamburg in their own midweek cup success. They may have started the season a little sedately but they haven’t lost since.... ....ah. This game has a kind of cup-tie feel, you see, and that was firmly borne out when Dortmund beat Bayern 2-0 in the pre-season German Super Cup. That was the 10th time these two had faced each other in two years and a day – such overfamiliarity giving it at least one similarity to another Clasico we all know – and BVB have won three of the last five, including a stupendous 3-0 win at the Allianz Arena last season. You suspect that, whatever the context, they will be prepared to face Bayern as equals today. Even if they’ve had to go without their dinner. Updated at 4.32pm GMT 4.30pm GMT16:30 Nick will be here shortly. |