BVB v Bayern – Der Rekordmeister Dominant Once Again

Manuel Veth –

Der Klassiker BVB v Bayern once again takes the spotlight in Germany, and it is der Rekordmeister, who comes out on top to take a commanding lead on top of the Bundesliga table.

• Arjen Robben opened the scoring with another vintage goal.
• Dortmund once again with problems on both ends of the pitch.
• Robert Lewandowski scored twice against his former club.

BVB v Bayern: 1-3

Goals: 0-1 Arjen Robben (16’), 0-2 Robert Lewandowski (38’), 0-3 David Alaba (67’), 1-3 Marc Bartra (88’)

It was a cautious start by both sides, and it was only thanks to the individual brilliance by star winger Arjen Robben that Bayern was able to take the lead early on. The left-winger took advantage from some disorganisation in Dortmund’s defence to collect the ball from a perfect James Rodríguez pass inside the box step inside and curl the ball past Roman Bürki to make it 0-1 with a vintage finish. From there on Bayern looked very confident with their possession with Dortmund’s defence looking overwhelmed with the pressure applied by the Bavarians at that point.

Arjen Robben makes it 1-0 with a wonderfully curled finish. (PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)

It took until the 25’ minute that Dortmund started to break forward more often opening up the game on both ends and Andriy Yarmolenko (29’), Robert Lewandowski (30’) and Shinji Kagawa (31’) had chances to change the scoreline. In the end, it was Bayern that got the second goal of the game with Joshua Kimmich delivering an inch-perfect cross into the box that was flicked in with a back heel by Lewandowski to make it 0-2 to the Rekordmeister. To summarise Bayern were deservedly up, but once again it was Dortmund’s inefficiency in front of Bayern’s goal and poor marking in front of their own goal that led to the Yellow and Blacks trailing once again.

The game remained open right off the second half kickoff, and Bayern had the chance to put this game to bed right away, but Bürki came up big time to stop a close-range header from Lewandowski in the 48’. Moments later Dortmund had two chances in quick succession Pulisic cross was poorly met by Yarmolenko, who missed the target, and then just a few seconds later Aubameyang put a Marcel Schmelzer cross on the far side of Ulreich’s goal. Lewandowski then had the next chance in the game after a fantastic pass from Robben, completely free inside the box his shot, however, was wide (64’).

Bayern celebrate their third goal against Dortmund. (PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Moments later the game was over Alaba crossed the ball in and it appeared that Lewandowski got a deft touch to the ball, but replays showed that it was Alaba’s cross that beat Bürki to make it 0-3 in the 67’. After the third goal, Bayern circulated the ball preserving their energy and thanks to Dortmund’s continued inefficiency in front of the net, Yarmolenko and Aubameyang had chances to score one for BVB, in the end, it was defender Marc Bartra, who pulled one back for Borussia Dortmund with a wonderfully curled finish from inside the box. Shortly after Gonzalo Castro almost made it 2-3 once again, however, Dortmund showed that they are not clinical in front of the opposition’s goal, which was the difference between the two clubs tonight.

BVB v Bayern – Man of the Match

Arjen Robben once again showed that he still has the class to make the difference at this level. Recently retired from the Dutch national team Robben managed his eleventh goal, in all competitions, against Borussia Dortmund. His curled finish was vintage Robben and led the way to a Bayern München victory over Borussia Dortmund. But it was not just the goal that made him the man of the match Robben also was Bayern’s leader on the pitch pushing Bayern forward on countless occasions.

Arjen Robben was the man of the match. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images)

BVB v Bayern – Talking Point

The question was how Bayern coached by Jupp Heynckes would hold up to top opposition. We now got our answer, and it is clear that Heynckes has brought Bayern back to the level that could see der Rekordmeister be on course to another successful season and perhaps once again become a challenger not just for domestic titles, but also in the Champions League. Borussia Dortmund in the meantime have dropped eleven points to Bayern since Heynckes has taken over and Peter Bosz will have to answer some tough questions during the international break.

BVB v Bayern – Match Stats

• Robben scored his eleventh goal in all competitions for Bayern against BVB—he only scored more often against Wolfsburg.
• Last time Borussia Dortmund managed to get the point from two goals down was on October 22, 2016, in a game that ended 3-3.
• Bayern are undefeated in 127 games when they led at halftime (W118 D9)—the last loss was in Cologne 2011 (2-3 after 2-0).

BVB v Bayern – Line-ups

Borussia Dortmund:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Bürki – Bartra, Sokratis (Toljan 42’), Toprak Schmelzer – Castro, Weigl, Kagawa (Götze 68’) – Yarmolenko (Sancho 79’), Aubameyang, Pulisic

Coach: Peter Bosz

Bayern München:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Ulreich – Alaba (Rafinha 72’), Süle, Hummels, Kimmich – Martinez (Rudy 79’), Thiago – Coman, James (Vidal 83’), Robben – Lewandowski

Coach: Jupp Heynckes

Manuel 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.