The build-up to the first Bundesliga ‘Klassiker’ of the season was dominated by two things, the injury worries for both sides heading into the match, and the return of Mario Goetze to the club which nurtured him for 12 years. Ultimately, it was Bayern’s diminutive trequartista who made the decisive contribution to hand the Bavarians their first win in Dortmund since 2009.

Dortmund were looking to this fixture to inject some impetus into a season which has tailed off in recent weeks with potentially crucial defeats in both the Bundesliga and Champions League, and Jurgen Klopp set up his side to threaten Bayern with blistering pace on the counter attack, with Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin sitting deep and looking to release Marco Reus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski. But the headlines for BVB were made by their makeshift defensive lineup caused by a recent injury crisis, with Kevin Grosskreutz employed at right back, youngster Erik Durm at left back and Manuel Friedrich, signed on a costless transfer in midweek, partnering Sokratis at centre back. Pep Guardiola’s Bayern faced injury worries of their own, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery the headline absentees. Many expected this to result in a start for Mario Götze at his old stomping ground, but Guardiola instead chose to start Javi Martinez deep alongside Philip Lahm, pushing Toni Kroos into a more advanced role alongside Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben, with this still formidable triumvirate supporting Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic.

With the majority of the 80,000 in attendance behind them, Dortmund made the stronger start, and really should have gone ahead when Robert Lewandowski was presented with an opportunity 6 yards out, but the usually lethal Pole conspired to fire over. While Dortmund continued to be in the ascendency, they never really threatened Manuel Neuer’s goal, often building attacks with their usual combination of bustling energy and deceptive guile, before Bayern were able to break them up with relative ease, and in the 41st minute, BVB were nearly punished for their impotence, when Arjen Robben fired a ball across the 6 yard box which Mario Mandzukic failed to convert.

With little of note occurring in the opening 45 minutes, the second half continued in a similar vein, with only a missed half chance by Lewandowski from Sven Bender’s clever ball worthy of a mention. But on 58 minutes, Götze, dubbed Judas by the home fans, was introduced for Mandzukic to a chorus of boos, and ultimately turned the game in Bayern’s favour.

Just 8 minutes after coming on, Götze silenced the raucous home crowd. Philip Lahm’s ball from deep stretched the Dortmund defence, before Thomas Muller’s ball into the box was controlled and expertly dispatched with the outside of the boot by Götze. To their credit, Dortmund responded well and could have equalized when Reus found himself in space on the edge of the area, only for his left footed strike to be kept out by Manuel Neuer at full stretch.  As time was starting to run out, Klopp introduced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Jonas Hofmann and Lukas Piszczek for Blaszczykowski, Mkhitaryan and Bender  to try and turn the tide. But these changes appeared in vain just moments after Piszczek’s introduction as Bayern sealed a huge win in stylish fashion. Firstly, the excellent Robben broke with electrifying pace after being set costless by substitute Thiago to dink the ball over Weidenfeller into the far corner, before Thomas Muller kept his composure to convert a Philip Lahm pass low past the desperate Dortmund keeper and seal a well-deserved 3 points.

In the pre-match buildup, Guardiola had praised Dortmund’s “extraordinary quality”. But at the end of the 90 minutes, it was clear that Bayern’s own remarkable ability had proved too much for their fierce rivals to handle. While Dortmund’s players and fans were devastated as referee Manuel Gräfe blew the final whistle, Bayern’s players and travelling Südkurve were ecstatic, knowing that even at this early stage, this victory could well prove decisive at the end of the season. 

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