Bayern v Dortmund – Match Report

Manuel Veth from Munich –

The DFB Pokal match Bayern v Dortmund see the Bavarians advance to the quarterfinal of the cup. Dortmund will not reach the final for the first time in four seasons.

• Dortmund had to make due without star forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
• Thomas Müller and Jérôme Boateng score in the first half to bring Bayern ahead.
• Andriy Yarmolenko’s goal is too little too late.

Bayern v Dortmund 

Goals: 1-0 (Boateng, 13′), 2-0 (Müller, 40′), 1-2 (Yarmolenko, 77′)

The big shock for the Yellow and Blacks occurred ahead of the match with striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing the match with a muscle problem. Without the Gabonese forward Andriy Yarmolenko was forced to play at the very front as a striker, which in turn meant Dortmund’s tactical formation could be best described a 3-4-3 formation with Shinji Kagawa, Christian Pulisic and Yarmolenko rotating up front. Bayern in the meantime played in a more traditional 4-2-3-1 formation with Arturo Vidal playing the more offensive part in the double pivot role, and the Chilean almost opened the scoring the opener two minutes into the match with a thunderous header that bounced off the bar.

From the chance onward one got the sense that Bayern were comfortable with their role as favourites creating more and more pressure with James (7′) and Robert Lewandowski (8′) and Frank Ribery, as well as Lewandowski (10′) creating clear chances that should have led to an early advantage. At this point, it was only thanks to Roman Bürki that Dortmund were still in this match—the BVB keeper came up with a big stop against James and Ribery to keep the Bavarians at bay. At that pace, it was only a matter of time until Bayern would score and in the 13′ minute, Jérôme Boateng finally broke the deadlock. Following a corner, Niklas Süle saw his header hit the crossbar, but Boateng was ready for the rebound sending the ball home with a thunderous header.

Bayern had won the last three games with 1-0 scoreline demonstrating that head coach Jupp Heynckes emphasised pragmatism. This explains what happened next. Bayern circulated the ball and eased off the pressure without giving Dortmund to much room to create chances themselves. In the 35′ minute BVB head coach Peter Stöger made an early tactical change taking off Marc Bartra for Mahmoud Dahoud, and within a minute of the substitution, Dortmund had their first chance when Andriy Yarmolenko received the ball inside the penalty box. The Ukrainian, however, had the ball on his weaker left-foot and already without consequent finishes in the game against Hoffenheim on Saturday Yarmolenko also took to long to finish his move giving David Alaba time to clear the ball off the line. It was Dortmund’s only chance in the first half, and the importance of Alaba’s clearance became apparent when Thomas Müller broke into Dortmund’s box and chipped the ball over BVB keeper Roman Bürki to make it 2-0.

It took Bayern just a few moments to get going in the second half with James having a significant chance within seconds of the kick-off to make it 3-0. Bürki once again was there, however, to stop the low drive by the Colombian midfielder. Bayern kept coming, and Dortmund were holding on as much as they could. In the 48′ minute, Müller appeared to have scored his second when he managed a free header within the six-yard box, and half the stadium was already celebrating when Bürki came up with an unbelievable stop to keep Bayern out. Dortmund were in trouble, and Stöger reacted taking off Raphaël Guerreiro and bring on André Schürrle. Whether it was the immediate impact of the German national team winger or not, but within moments of the substitution, Shinji Kagawa finally found some room on the right flank and his shot from inside the penalty box only just missed Sven Ulreich’s goal.

The Shinji Kagawa chance aside it was an abysmal game by Borussia Dortmund up to this point. Dortmund, in fact, were lucky that they were not down by more as the game was entering its final third. What was apparent that the Yellow and Blacks lacked an outlet up front—especially with Yarmolenko’s tendency to drift to the right. In theory, the void in the centre should have been filled with Kagawa and Pulisic pressing into the open space, but neither attacking player made efficient use of the room leaving Dortmund without an attacking player at the very front. Hence, even when Dortmund started to press a bit more after the 70′ minute, the Yellow and Blacks seemed to lack the necessary tools to crack open the Bavarians.

Sven Ulreich denied Alexander Isak to win Bayern the game. (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Bongarts/Getty Images)

At this point, the Bavarians were in absolute control, and it was almost a shock when Dortmund’s Yarmolenko scored after a great cross from Shinji Kagawa with a close-range header. The Ukrainian up to this point had an abysmal game, and the goal made somewhat up for the many missed opportunities over the last two matches. It was fascinating to watch a Dortmund side transform on the pitch. No longer timid the Yellow and Blacks now controlled the match always probing Bayern’s defence with Julian Weigl and Dahoud circulating the ball well in midfield. But was it too little too late? With only Schürrle testing Ulreich from outside the box in the 87′ minute, Stöger reacted bringing wunderkind Alexander Isak for Jeremy Toljan. At this point, it was all or nothing for Borussia Dortmund. The 18-year-old Swede then had the final chance of the match receiving the ball inside the box he only had Sven Ulreich to beat; the Bayern keeper managed to spread out like a Kraken, however, getting one foot on the shot to deflect the ball past the post.

It was the final chance on either end of the pitch. Bayern managed to keep the ball in Dortmund’s half to see out the final moments of the game to deservedly advance to the next round of the DFB Pokal. The Bavarians dominated 75 minutes of the game and only towards the last ten minutes gave Dortmund some room to get back into the match.

Bayern v Dortmund – Man of the Match

Thomas Müller was the man of the match. The Bayern forward not only scored the game winner but also created countless attacking runs and created several chances to further run up the scoreline for his team. Müller therefore once again showed his value in the cup. He has now scored in 16 cup games, and every time Bayern managed to win the game.

Bayern v Dortmund – Thomas Müller was the player of the match. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Bayern v Dortmund – Talking Point

It is the time of transfer rumours. The big talking point for Bayern was the sacking of Paul Clement and the possible return of Renato Sanches from Swansea to Munich. Another point was the likely signing of Sandro Wagner from 1899 Hoffenheim. With the signing of Wagner Bayern have finally addressed the backup problem for Robert Lewandowski—but whereas Bayern have filled the hole behind Lewandowski BVB remain without a proper backup for their number one forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Yellow and Blacks were toothless without a true number 9 during the match, and while Alexander Isak is a big talent, it appears that first Peter Bosz and now Peter Stöger do not feel comfortable yet to start the young Swedish forward.

Bayern v Dortmund – Match Stats

• Jérôme Boateng has now scored all seven of his goals at home at the Allianz Arena.
• Thomas Müller has scored in 16 DFB Pokal games, and Bayern won every single of those games.
• In four of the last six DFB Pokal seasons, Bayern managed to eliminate Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern v Dortmund – Reactions

Peter Stöger: “Congratulations Jupp Heynckes. It was deserved victory for Bayern. We didn’t play well in the first half. Our work rate and the passing rate was poor. The second half was, better and despite the fact that Bayern could have scored more we were doing better. With a little luck, we could have made it into extra-time.” On just missing out on extra-time: “We were angry about not making it. But we also didn’t deserve it. It would have been exciting to make it to the extra-time.” On possible changes: “I now know the team. There is no doubt that this is an excellent team. My number one job is to get the team going again. Ten days were not enough, and we spent a lot of time regenerating. There is a lot of potential there, and Dortmund fans will have plenty of fun in the Rückrunde. 14 days will be enough to fix our problems.” About his year: “(Laughs) Difficult. Reached the Europa League with Köln and then a great game against Arsenal then fired and now BVB. I am in the middle of the story.”

Bayern v Dortmund – Jupp Heynckes speaking to the media. (Manuel Veth/Futbolgrad Network).

Jupp Heynckes asked about the two halves and the overall conclusion of his time at the club: “The team has done remarkable work since October 7. We have made plenty of changes and we increased training intensity, we have won all but one game in all competitions. We have beaten Leipzig and now Dortmund in the cup. We sort of missed out on wrapping the game up today. We dictated this game and the opposition struggled and had to make changes as well without playing with a real forward. After the break, we had two big chances and our problem is that we didn’t convert our chances. Experience shows that after conceding you will always be under pressure, but we managed well.” About Borussia Dortmund’s potential: “I think that Borussia Dortmund have enormous potential. They have some issues with players being hurt and now you could see with the two wins that they have more confidence again. I am sure they will finish on a Champions League spot once again. Peter Stöger is a coach, who has showed great things at Köln.” About competition in the league: “We have a big gap to the rest of the table. But we are only at the halfway point and we have to get even better. I am sure we can be successful in both the league and the cups.” What are you looking forward too? ” I am looking forward to a break, a period to take a breather, a time to take a rest, perhaps watch the news, maybe spent some time with the family. That is important because it has been none stop since October 7.” On fitness: “I didn’t mean fitness in terms of lack of fitness, but rather players coming back from injuries. Ribéry, for example, was not supposed to come back this early. We constantly had problems rotating the squad due to fitness issues and I hope that all players will be back for the second half of the season.”

Bayern v Dortmund – Line-ups

Bayern München:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Ulreich – Kimmich, Boateng, Süle, Alaba – Javi Martínez (Rudy, 87′), Vidal – Müller, James (Tolisso, 75′), Ribéry (Coman, 61′) – Lewandowski

Coach: Jupp Heynckes

Borussia Dortmund:

Formation: 3-4-3

Bürki – Bartra (Dahoud, 35′), Sokratis, Toprak – Schmelzer, Guerreiro (Schürrle, 57′), Weigl, Toljan (Isak, 88′) – Kagawa – Pulisic, Yarmolenko

Coach: Peter StögerManuel Veth is the owner and Editor in Chief of the Futbolgrad Network. He also works as a freelance journalist and social media editor at Bundesliga.com. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in History from King’s College London, and his thesis is titled: “Selling the People’s Game: Football’s transition from Communism to Capitalism in the Soviet Union and its Successor States,” which will be available in print soon. Originally from Munich, Manuel has lived in Amsterdam, Kyiv, Moscow, Tbilisi, London, and currently is located in Victoria BC, Canada.  Follow Manuel on Twitter @ManuelVeth.