Any Bayern-Dortmund clash is known in Germany as simply Der Klassiker. Today’s edition of Der Klassiker did not disappoint. It was a close, hard-fought game from start to finish. It was a tale of two halves. After their 4-1 loss to Hoffenheim, Bayern coach Hansi Flick altered Bayern’s usual gegenpressing game plan. Instead of pressing Dortmund’s back line, Bayern played it cautious in their positioning. They didn’t overcommit in numbers to try and win possession in Dortmund’s half of the field. Flick also shuffled the deck of Bayern starters. Leroy Sané is out with a knee injury, so Kingsley Coman slotted over to take. Serge Gnabry was given a rest, as was midfielder Leon Goretzka and defender Jerome Boateng. Alphonso Davies started at right winger in place of Gnabry. Javi Martinez, the hero in Bayern’s UEFA Super Cup win over Seville, started in David Alaba’s spot as a center defender. Thomas Muller moved over to right wing to fill in for Gnabry. Corentin Tolisso took Goretzka’s’s usual spot. Dortmund had their own changes as well. They were without Thorgan Hazard [injury], Roman Bürki and Jadon Sancho [illness – not COVID-19]. Julian Brandt and Marco Reus, who came off the bench against Augsburg, started.
Some Bundesliga games have seen fans in the stands [20% of stadium capacity]. Not so today in Bavaria where they are experiencing a COVID spike. Bayern got the first shot on goal with a Joshua Kimmich header, but Dortmund keeper Marwin Hitz had no trouble with it. Dortmund was able to get into Bayern’s penalty area with little difficulty early on, but it was Bayern who got on the scoreboard first at the eighteenth minute. Bayern scored on the counterattack from a Dortmund corner kick. Davies received the block off the corner, fed Coman down the left side. Coman found Thomas Müller in the center, who found Robert Lewandowski sprinting down the right side. Lewandowski found the trailing Tolisso in the middle, who shot on goal, hit the crossbar, and slotted home his own rebound. Bayern led 1-0.
Bayern’s second goal was a bit more methodical. having worked their way up-field from their own end, Alphonso Davies put a cross into the box from about thirty meters out. Thomas Müller caught up with it and scored on a header past Hitz in the 32nd minute. Bayern appeared to have a comfortable 2-goal lead, but there was still an hour left to play against a team that makes its living by coming back from deficits. Today would be no different for Dortmund. Seven minutes later, and five minutes before halftime, Dortmund grabbed back a goal. In the 39th minute, Dortmund pressured Bayern in their own end and won back the ball. It was Erling Haaland and Julian Brandt in the box against two Bayern defenders. Haaland made a crisp pass to Brandt, who buried the goal. New game! Dortmund refused to go away. Dortmund’s high pressure was a sign of things to come in the second half.
Right after halftime in the 47th minute, Dortmund found themselves with a 3-on-3 in Bayern’s penalty area, but Thomas Munier couldn’t seal the deal. Dortmund coach Lucien Farve wasn’t pleased. Shortly thereafter, Dortmund pressed Bayern hard and won back the ball. Thomas Delaney found Erling Haaland sprinting toward Bayern’s penalty area. Haaland succeeded where Munier failed and got the equalizer. I really like Haaland’s game. He is a beast in the middle. He nearly got a third Dortmund goal when he found himself one-on-one against Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer. But Haaland shot the ball almost exactly where he got the equalizer. Neuer made himself big and blocked Haaland’s shot. That’s why they pay Neuer the big bucks [ok, Euros]. For a good part of the second half, Dortmund seemed to be beating Bayern at their own game, but they couldn’t get that third goal.
While Bayern maintained possession for two-thirds of the second half, Dortmund had more shots on goal. At the 67th minute, Dortmund’s Nico Schulz, Reinier and Gio Reyna subbed on for Erling Haaland, Thomas Munier and Marco Reus respectively. Serge Gnabry subbed on for Kingsley Coman for Bayern. And then the game slowed. More substitutions for both sides. It appeared both teams were starting to feel fatigued and were playing for the penalty shootout. The German Super Cup doesn’t play extra time in case of a tie at the end of regulation – it’s straight to penalty kicks if needed. Ethen in the 81st minute, Joshua Kimmich picked Thomas Delaney’s pocket at midfield, sped down the field where he found Robert Lewandowski, who then passed it back to the trailing Kimmich. Kimmich took the shot, but Marwin Hitz blocked it. But instead of covering up the ball, Hitz let the ball rebound back to Kimmich. As Kimmich was falling over Dortmund defender Łukasz Piszczek, he somehow got his left heel on the ball and put Bayern ahead 3-2. This was as freakish a goal as I’ve seen in a long while. As much as Dortmund pressured Bayern for the equalizer and a possible shootout, Bayern was able to kill the clock and win the German Super Cup. This game could have gone either way.
In a somewhat bittersweet postscript, referee Bibiana Steinhaus announced her sudden retirement. Before the game she released this statement:
“Like many people during the corona situation, I have reflected and reassessed some things. After a very truthful and constructive conversation with Lutz Michael Fröhlich, the sporting director of the DFB-Elite Referees, after carefully weighing many factors, I have decided to end my national and international career as referee. For this evening, I want the focus to be entirely on the game. I will discuss the reasons for my retirement in somewhat greater detail in due time.”
Steinhaus is a trailblazer in German soccer. Her father was also a football referee. In 2007, she became the first female referee in German men's professional football. She made it to the Bundesliga’s first division for the 2017-18 season. A police officer in her “day job” [she’s a Chief Inspector in Langenhagen], she had been the target of abuse from some players, but for the most part she’s respected throughout the league. She’s a damn good referee. I hate to see her go.
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