Another important league match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund seemed over before it began.
Dortmund was out to prove their 9 match unbeaten league streak could hold up to another top team, but instead, ended up down two goals by the ninth minute.
An early Leroy Sané corner in the 4th minute of the game ended with a powerful Dayot Upamecano header, getting through Nico Schlotterbeck’s mark to put Bayern up one.
Things only got worse for Die Schwarzgelben as a Niclas Füllkrug turnover in Bayern’s final third turned into a counterattack led by Leon Goretzka that ended with a clean Harry Kane finish to put Dortmund in a hole they could not get out of.
Dortmund could not conjure up any meaningful attack for most of the game, and right as they finally found some energy in the second half, the game was completely finished with yet another Harry Kane finish assisted by Kingsley Coman.
Harry Kane ended up completing his hat trick with a late stoppage time goal that put him over Serhou Guirassy for most goals in the season so far.
This was the 10th Der Klassiker match without a Dortmund win. Their last win in the series was a home game in October of 2018. This is also their fourth game in 10 matchups against Bayern where they did not score a goal.
Bayern: Times are Tough But Not THAT Tough
This has been one of Bayern’s weirder seasons overall so far. Despite having a start that any other team would dream of having, the team has been marred by squad depth issues, conflicts between players, questions around Thomas Tuchel's tactics, and a negative aura amongst the organization.
They headed into this game having lost to third tier FC Saarbrücken four days ago in the DFB Pokal, their third exit in the second round in 4 years. They had a ton of pressure coming into this fixture to take away the embarrassment from that game.
However, this game proved that even in Bayern’s worst times, they are still in a completely different tier than Dortmund in both talent and tactics. Even without Joshua Kimmich, they were still able to completely take over the momentum from the first kick and continue their game of catchup to Bayer Leverkusen in the standings.
On top of bounce back performances from Leon Goretzka and Upamecano, one of their best defensive performances of the season, and an all around complete game on all fronts, it seemed like a lot of the question marks that have plagued Bayern all season at least were gone for one game.
Dortmund: Self Inflicted Suffering
Dortmund has played some ugly games this season that somehow worked out into a win or a draw. Games like the draw against 1. FC Heidenheim and the catch up draw against Eintracht Frankfurt last week stick out.
Something that looked apparent in this game was that Dortmund has yet to play a league game that was against a top 4 team at the time of the game. When coming against a team that matches, or even over matches their quality, they seem to have issues keeping up. We have seen this in their Champions League matches as well.
The key moment of this match for Dortmund was that they went into the second half with some fight, and for the first 25 minutes, it looked like they could at least grab a goal. However, Edin Terzić snuffed out his own momentum with 3 ill timed subs, most glaring was his taking off Julian Brandt for Youssoufa Moukoko.
Paired with Karim Adeyemi coming on for Donyell Malen minutes before, and any attacking chemistry that was built up starting the half was completely changed. After the 3rd goal, the bulk of the shots onward were from Marcel Sabitzer instead of his new offensive subs.
Considering Bayern’s one Achilles heel this season is their lack of defensive cohesion and depth, managing only 1 shot on goal for the entire game drives home what a missed opportunity this was for Dortmund.
Bayern: Harry Kane Was Worth It
This summer's Harry Kane saga seemed endless. When the final price tag was placed on the transfer, questions will always come up if upwards of 100 million pounds for any one player is necessary.
Luckily for Bayern, the transfer is doing more than just working out. Kane has only been goalless in 3 of the games he has played across all competitions and he currently has more goals for the club than appearances with 17 goals and 14 appearances.
He also sets up his teammates as well, with 7 assists across all competitions going along with his goalscoring prowess. He is an incredible player that knows where and when to make runs, and yet always knows where his teammates are.
It is hard to imagine he will slow down, but even if he does, he is still on track to match or exceed Robert Lewandowski’s 41 goal record in league play. A perfect player to fill that exact hole that they felt Lewandowski left.
Dortmund Cannot Let This Ruin Them
Dortmund is currently on game two of an incredibly difficult schedule. After their match against Eintracht Frankfurt and their Pokal match against Hoffenheim, their next games include Paris Saint-Germain F.C., VfB Stuttgart in both league play and the Pokal, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, and Newcastle United. All of those games being in the span of just over a month.
This embarrassing loss cannot be what derails their concentration and confidence for the rest of this difficult schedule they are on. They are still in a very respectable league position, alive in the DFB Pokal which they are one of the better teams left in, and they are second in their Champions League group.
They need to keep a winner's mentality as they approach this next month of fixtures to end 2023 strong, and not let this loss get to them. They need to not let their morale get destroyed as a result of this match and carry over to the other important games they have coming up.
