Two of football's great thinkers watched on studiously as their sides played out an intensely tactical battle at Signal-Iduna Park, though the Bavarians stay five points clear
Borussia Dortmund may not have closed the gap to Bayern Munich in the league table, but they certainly showed they have closed the gap on the pitch. In the last Klassiker, back in October, Thomas Tuchel’s side shipped five goals and were taught a harsh footballing lesson. This time they were more intelligent, more organised and every bit the equal of their far loftier opponent.
Saturday’s clash at Signal-Iduna Park pitted two heavyweights of German football against one another with the title firmly on the line. So often at this time of the year Bayern are cantering towards glory – they were 34 points ahead of Dortmund, and 14 clear of second-placed Wolfsburg, at this stage last season. But not this time. And not any time soon, if this young and hungry Dortmund team are anything to go by.
Tuchel set up his side much as old club Mainz had done in midweek, when Bayern were surprisingly beaten at the Allianz Arena. That result was very much a smash-and-grab, with the Bavarians bossing possession (they had 75 per cent of the ball), but Dortmund initially matched up well against Pep Guardiola’s charges.
They denied the Bavarians their usual strangulating dominance of possession in the first half – though admittedly ceded more territory as the game wore on – while also enjoying large spells of control themselves. As ever, their run-making on the break terrified the Bayern defence as yellow and black shirts streamed forward, though their finishing belied the promise of those counter-attacks.
Of course, there were moments of sustained pressure from the visitors too, as Tuchel had predicted before the match. “We want to beat Bayern but there will be periods when we have to suffer,” he explained. “But if we're brave enough to play to our limit we can also make Bayern suffer.” As the Dortmund press lost some of its early velocity, Bayern became the more dominant side in the second period.
Yet the shift to a back three had allowed the hosts to crowd out dangermen Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski. They mustered just five shots combined across the 90 minutes (40% down on their average), while three of those efforts were blocked. They were bullied out of the game.
Instead the onus fell on Arjen Robben and Arturo Vidal as the men most likely to break the deadlock. The Dutchman had plenty of chances to do so, far more than Tuchel would have liked, while his speed against the slower, less mobile Mats Hummels, who was playing on the left-hand side of the back three, was perhaps the only obvious weakness in Dortmund’s impressive armour.
Vidal, meanwhile, had his best match in a Bayern shirt. Guardiola hasn’t always appeared especially taken by the Chilean since his summer switch from Juventus, but in recent weeks he has emerged as a vital cog. Against his old club two weeks ago, he played like a modern Libero, scurrying around the pitch to protect a makeshift defence. Here he was more advanced and influential, and would have netted but for an incredible save from Roman Burki.
In the end, the spoils were shared. Bayern looked the stronger team at the death, with Dortmund sinking deeper and deeper into their own half, though Adrian Ramos might have snatched all three points for the home side had he made a better connection with a free header at the back post. And ultimately that was all that separated the teams: fine margins. Past Klassikers have revealed gulfs in class, this one was only going to be separated by a moment of genius or an unfortunate error.
Germany boss Joachim Low was one of many notable faces in attendance at Signal-Iduna Park and claimed at half time that it was the best game he had seen this season. The World Cup winner will have appreciated the almost chess-like nature of the match as both teams, and managers, tried to out-think each other, adjusting and readjusting their team and tactics. He will have noted, too, the abundance of young German players thriving in such a cerebral contest.
Erik Durm was an all-action presence down the right flank and nullified Douglas Costa. Joshua Kimmich – once again deputising at centre-back despite the presence of €30 million centre-back Mehdi Benatia on the bench – was a calm and assured head in the back-line and Julian Weigl matched the vastly more experienced Bayern midfield with his precocious reading of the game.
The latter pair, still uncapped, would not look out of place in the Germany squad that will take on England and Italy at the end of the month, or that which will go to Euro 2016 this summer either.
Rarely is a goalless draw so engaging and riveting, rarely are matches played at such an impeccably high level of quality, application and thinking. The Klassiker had become a little one-sided, but now Germany’s biggest sides feel evenly poised and that is brilliant news for a league that was becoming just a tad predictable.
Tuchel has turned Dortmund back into genuine challengers far quicker than he could have expected, and, regardless of what happens this season, it sets up the post-Guardiola era brilliantly.
- Goal