Matchday 7 Match of the Week - Der Klassiker!

Today’s edition of Der Klassiker lived up to its name today, with Bayern Munich edging past Borussia Dortmund in a 3-2 thriller at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park.  It was the clichéd “irresistible force against the immovable object” – the Bayern scoring machine [24 goals in six games] against the Bundesliga’s top defense [only two goals (none at home) allowed so far]. Commentator Derek Rae called this the game that captures the zeitgeist of German football.  The two teams began the match tied at the top of the table with 15 points each. Bayern had the edge on goal difference [+15 for Bayern, +11 for Dortmund].

Bayern were without Alphonso Davies [out with an ankle injury until January], Niklas Süle [one COVID-positive test], and Benjamin Pavard [muscle injury in training]. Dortmund defender Mats Hummels [hamstring] was a game-time decision, but he got the start.

Bayern came storming out the game immediately. Robert Lewandowski nearly got on the board in the first minute, but his shot from the left side while inside the penalty area went wide left. Dortmund’s attack showed much promise. Bayern likes to play a high line, but they are vulnerable to the counterattack.  Dortmund showed they could exploit this but couldn’t quite finish.  Jadon Sancho and Gio Reyna showed they could stretch Bayern’s defense, and Erling Haaland is always dangerous in the middle. That big Norwegian kid is good!  At the 14^th minute, only a great save from Dortmund goalie Roman Bürki from a Leon Goretzka header off a corner kick kept the game tied at 0-0. Seven minutes later Gio Reyna and Haaland found themselves on the counter, the Haaland was one-on-one against Bayern goalie Manuel Neuer.  Neuer made himself big enough to force Haaland’s shot on goal to just barely go wide-right.  It was a fantastic counterattack from Dortmund, exactly the kind of play that anyone needs to keep level with Bayern, but Neuer made the difference.

At the 24^th minute, it looked as if Bayern got on the board first.  After stopping Dortmund deep in Bayern territory, Jérôme Boateng mad a superb long outlet pass to Kingsley Coman, who passed to Serge Gnabry, who took it to the Dortmund penalty area.  He mad a cross from the left and found a streaking Lewandowski coming down the middle. Lewandowski put the ball in Dortmund’s net, but the Video Assisted Referee [VAR] had Lewandowski offside by mere inches.  It was an extremely tight call. No goal – game still tied at 0-0.

At thirty-five minutes, Joshua Kimmich injured his right knee in a collision with Erling Haaland. Kimmich received a yellow card on the play, as he injured himself while fouling Haaland, who recovered and broke away with the ball.  The big Norwegian was too big for Kimmich, who had to be helped off the field with a knee injury.  He was replaced immediately by French teammate Corentin Tolisso. Kimmich had been the hero the last two times Bayern squared off against Dortmund, scoring the winning goals in both contests. With Kimmich gone, someone else had to be Bayern’s hero. Kimmich’ departure did have a consequence.

Dortmund opened the scoring “on the cusp of halftime” [thank you, Derek Rae] when longtime BVB man Marco Reus fired high and hard into the top corner after being picked out by a Raphael Guerreiro pull-back in the middle of the box. Kimmich had shut down Reus for the better part of the first half. After he left, Reus scored. This was Reus’s eighth goal against Bayern, leading all active Bundesliga players in that regard.  Dortmund’s lead was short-lived.  Bayern didn’t have to chase the game for long.  Three minutes of stoppage time [due to the Kimmich injury] were added onto the first half.  Bayern hit back with just seconds remaining in the half from a well-worked set piece from the top of the box. After a few quick touches to change the launching point, David Alaba fired a missile past the wall and Roman Bürki to tie the game. AlaBOOM indeed. That had to be a big boost for Bayern going into halftime.  Alaba’s goal was a MASSIVE answer to Reus’s goal. Here’s a little bit of trivia – Alaba’s goal was the 100^th scored by Bayern since Hansi Flick took over as coach a year ago.

Having given up their lead so shortly before halftime, one had to wonder where Dortmund’s collective head was.  Would they bounce back early in the second half, or would Bayern show their killer instinct that has served them well these past twelve months?  We had our answer shortly after the second-half kickoff.  Bayern took the lead almost immediately after the restart thanks to a poacher's goal from Robert Lewandowski -- the Poland international cutting in front of his marker and heading expertly into the net from a Lucas Hernandez cross on the left in the 48th minute.  Hernandez had a nightmarish first season with Bayern last year, but this season he has shown top form.  He’s getting assists [not bad for a defender] and scored his first goal for Bayern last week in the Champion’s League game against RB Salzburg.  Kingsley Coman nearly made it 3-1 three minutes later, but his shot hit the woodwork.

Both sides made key substitutions.  After Bayern took the lead, Dortmund subbed Jude Bellingham for Thomas Delaney.  Bayern subbed on Leroy Sané and Javi Martinez for Kingsley Coman and Jérôme Boateng, respectively.  Bellingham breathed new life into Dortmund’s attack.  Accordingly, Manuel Neuer had to earn his pay – he was no spectator today. Bayern went two goals ahead with around 10 minutes remaining with a ruthless counter-attack from a dispossession deep in their own half. Leroy Sané fired hard and low into the far corner after cutting inside on his left foot – shades of Arjen Robben.  Bayern showed they could flip a game on its head in the blink of an eye.  Leon Goretzka forced a Dortmund turnover deep in Bayern’s end, and two passes later Sané had his goal.  Dortmund immediately struck back through Erling Haaland, who settled a lobbed Guerreiro through ball to beat the offside trap, rounded Manuel Neuer and slotted home into an empty net. Lewandowski looked to have given Bayern a fourth goal in stoppage time with a first-time lob in the area, but VAR raised its head again and denied the goal.

The win gives Bayern a two-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga [RB Leipzig in second], while Dortmund settled in third, three points behind after seven games played.

PS. After the game, Gio Reyna and Erling Haaland were asked about the difference in the game.  Without hesitation, Haaland said he had to do better with the chances he was provided.  This kid is only 20, but he's holding himself accountable.  The more I see him, the more I like him. 

 

2020 German Super Cup

One week before the beginning of each Bundesliga season, the winner of the Bundesliga championship meets the winner of the DFB-Pokal [German Cup] in an exhibition match for the trophy known as the German Super Cup.  If the regular season champion and the DFL-Pokal winner is the same team, then the opponent is the championship runner-up.  And so, for what seems like the 100^th time, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund met today for this year’s edition of the German Super Cup.  As such, the game is an exhibition – it doesn’t count in the standings [but it DOES mean something (prestige)].  The 2020-21 Bundesliga began two weeks ago.  Because Bayern Munich was still in the hunt for the UEFA Champions League [which they won], the game was postponed until this week.  Last week, both Bayern and Dortmund lost their Matchday 2 games.  Bayern lost to Hoffenheim, while Dortmund lost to Augsburg.  Given the tight schedule this season, this was a game that I think neither team particularly wanted to play, but they didn’t have any choice.  Dortmund won last year’s German Super Cup against Bayern, 2-0.

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 32^nd 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 39^th 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 47^th 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 67^th 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 81^st 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.  

 

Matchday 2 Match of the Week - Augsburg vs Dortmund

This weekend, ESPN didn’t show any Bundesliga games on television.  Every game was on ESPN+.  I woke up on Saturday and scanned the day’s final results.  One result popped out at me – Augsburg defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0.  That one held some promise.  I’ve never seen Augsburg beat Dortmund.  Then I found out that my favorite Bundesliga announcer, Phil Bonney, called the game.  That’s my benchmark – when in doubt, watch the games called by either Phil Bonney or Derek Rae.  These guys know the Bundesliga.

One expects to see Dortmund score a lot of goals against Augsburg.  Four Dortmund players that I know of have gotten hat tricks against them – Robert Lewandowski did it, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did it, as did Paco Alcacer and most recently Erling Haaland. Last year, Dortmund won both games with an aggregate score of 10-4 – 5-1 on the first day of last season, and 5-3 on the first game of 2020.  They’ve surrendered more goals to Dortmund than any team in the Bundesliga.  But that was then, this is now.  As Phil Bonney put it, that’s the thing about a new season. There’s always the chance to something you’ve never done before.  Augsburg started the game with a 4-5-1 formation.  They clogged up the middle of the field, which is where Dortmund is strongest.  If Dortmund was to score, they’d have to put pressure on the wings and crack open Augsburg’s defense that way.  With Jadon Sancho, Axel Witsel and Thomas Meunier, they’ve got the talent to do that.  Erling Haaland is a beast in the middle.

For the first ten minutes, Dortmund had possession of the ball 75 percent of the time.  But right at ten minutes, Augsburg showed Dortmund they could get the ball behind Dortmund’s defensive line in the final third.  Lack of any deep runs hurt the Dortmund attack.  They played their typical possession-oriented game, put just couldn’t finish.  Augsburg didn’t get their first free kick until the 40^th minute, and when they did, they made it count.  Augsburg were without their free-kick specialist Phillip Max, but they had Daniel Caligiuri.  Augsburg striker Michael Gregoritsch took an elbow to the face from Dortmund defender Imre Can, resulting in a yellow card for Can.  A recent acquisition on a free transfer from Schalke, Galiguiri is no stranger to Dortmund.  Galiguiri took the free kick and found defender Felix Uduokhai, who headed the ball home and gave Augsburg the lead. Augsburg was executing their game plan perfectly – keep the defense compact in the middle, make Dortmund attack from the wings, and when Dortmund gives you an opportunity, seize it. In last year’s games, both had low-scoring first halves with much of the scoring coming in the second half.  The fixture in Augsburg saw the home team take a 3-1 lead into halftime, only to see Erling Haaland get his hat trick in the second half.  Would this year be a repeat?  Consider this – although Dortmund had significantly more possession time, Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki had more to do than Augsburg keeper Rafał Gikiewicz.  That was the difference in the first half.

While most of the first half was in Augsburg’s half of the field, there was more back-and-forth to start the second half.  Augsburg striker Florian Niederlechner, who had gotten through Dortmund’s defense three times only to be called offside each time, play the ball at midfield to a streaking Daniel Caligiuri, who raced past Thomas Meunier, beat Roman Bürki and scored the game’s second goal. Dortmund almost responded immediately when Gio Reyna was brought down in the penalty area by Rani Khedira. Was it a penalty? One look at the replay showed that Khedira got “all ball” and didn’t foul Reyna.  Reyna left his feet just a little too early. The referee made the correct call.  Shortly thereafter, Dortmund brought on some fresh attacking legs in Julian Brandt and Marco Reus, while defender Raphaël Guerreiro and midfielder Jude Bellingham.  Augsburg swapped out Niederlechner for Icelandic international Alfred Finnbogason, English midfielder Reece Oxford for Khedira, and Finnish midfielder Hans Jensen for Gregoritsch.  Would Dortmund pull another rabbit out of the hat as they usually do in these situations? One got the feeling that if Dortmund got a goal back that it would be an entirely different game. Conversely, if Augsburg got a third goal, it was “game over”. Uduokhai nearly got that third goal in the 68^th minute, with a shot just barely over the crossbar. In the 69^th minute, Dortmund swapped Meunier for Brazilian midfielder Reinier.  Dortmund changed their offensive attack from the wings to beef up their attack in the middle.  Credit to Augsburg – they didn’t wilt against Dortmund’s continuous pressure.  It just didn’t click for Dortmund today. Augsburg had too many defenders in the box. Augsburg didn’t let it slip away this time.

In his 300^th Bundesliga game Caligiuri had his hand in both Augsburg goals – assisting the first, scoring the second. Augsburg keeper Rafał Gikiewicz got a clean sheet against Dortmund – no easy feat there. He came up huge when he needed to. Augsburg have won their first two Bundesliga games of the season for the first time in their history. Augsburg were resilient, they were focused, they were disciplined.  They didn’t crack under Dortmund’s pressure.  It’s only Matchday 2, but Augsburg future for this season looks bright. 

Next up for Dortmund – the German Super Cup against Bayern in Munich next week, then a match against FC Freiburg.  For Augsburg, they have Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig to look forward to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Union Berlin Stuns Dortmund, 3-1

The beauty of having a DVR is being able to sleep in on Saturdays.  Fox Sports broadcast their Bundesliga games live.  This means the first game comes on at 8:30am.  I never get up that early on a Saturday unless I have to work.  The Borussia Dortmund-FC Union match was today's 'afternoon' game (evening in Germany).  As is my wont, I was up until 4am this morning and slept through the afternoon match.  This might be one of those games where I could erase it if the outcome was as expected.  This was not one of those games.

Union’s Stadion An der Alten Försterei has a capacity of 22,012, and this is the second-ever first division game played here.  On paper, this one looked like it was going to be a blowout, like Union's Matchday 1 4-0 thrashing by league-leaders RB Leipzig.  But games aren't played "on paper".

The little stadium erupted when Marius Bülter scored Union's first-ever Bundesliga goal at home. The goal came off of a corner kick.  The set piece has always been the Achilles' Heel for Dortmund's defense, and today was no different.  Dortmund doesn't stay behind for long whenever they are scored upon.  Again, today was no different.  Three minutes later Dortmund attacked.  Marco Reus and Jalon Sancho combined with Paco Alcacer, who tied the game three minutes later with his fourth goal of the young Bundesliga season.  Dortmund controlled the ball 73 percent of the time.  The Union players worked their butts off trying to keep pace with Dortmund, logging a collective 6 kilometers more than there Dortmund counterparts.  Dortmund had their chances, but the score remained tied at the half, 1-1.

Five minutes after the restart, Marcus Andersson capitalized on Manuel Akanji’s bad defense to burst clear and force a smart save from the feet of Roman Bürki. Marius Bülter caught Bürki's rebound of Andersson's shot and found just enough daylight to put the ball past him to restore Union's lead, 2-1.  It was Bülter's second goal. Roman Bürki did everything right.  Bülter proved that football is also a game of inches. Bürki just wasn't tall enough.

For the next 25 minutes, Dortmund ran Union all over the pitch, but they couldn't find the net again.  Julian Brandt, the wunderkind and German international signed away from Bayer Leverkusen, looked like he wasn't on the same page as the rest of the team.  Whenever Paco Alcacer got the ball, he seemed determined to do it all himself. 

At the 75th minute, Union received another corner kick - another set piece.  Dortmund made a poor clearance of the corner, and Marcus Andersson made them pay.  He slipped by defender Mats Hummels for Union's third goal.  With Bayern bringing in younger, faster defenders, perhaps THAT is why Hummels is no longer at Bayern.  Andersson scored last week in the draw against FC Augsburg, and he scored this week.  According to the clock, there were fifteen minutes left to play, but this match was over.  Dortmund is one of those teams that aren't beaten until the final whistle.  The referee added 7 minutes of stoppage time (an eternity in football), but there could have been 10 extra minutes and it wouldn't have mattered.  Today, after Union's third goal, whatever Dortmund tried was met by a sea of red Union jerseys in the penalty area.  They were done.

After their opening week debacle at home against RB Leipzig, Union was better-prepared mentally.  And these guys were tough against Dortmund.  They won this game on sheer determination.  They don't have the star power of Dortmund or Bayern Munich, but they played better as a unit than did Dortmund.  They made Dortmund look ordinary.  I hope FC Union Berlin is in the first division to stay.

I finished watching this match at 7pm Central Time.  Berlin is 7 hours ahead of us.  I bet those Union Berlin fans are still celebrating at their tiny stadium.

Bayern Munich - 7th consecutive Bundesliga title

For the first time in nine years, the race to claim the Bundesliga title came down to the final week.  Bayern Munich were ahead of Borussia Dortmund on points [75-73].  The only way Dortmund was going to win the title outright would be if Bayern lost to Eintracht Frankfurt and Dortmund beat Borussia Mönchengladbach.  All Bayern needed was a draw.  Even if Dortmund won and Bayern earned only a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern would win the first tie breaker because they had an insanely better goal differential than Dortmund [+51 to +35].  For the first time since the Allianz Arena opened, Bayern would be able to win the title in front of their home fans.  The home fans expected to see a title win on Matchday 34, and their side did not disappoint.

There had been rumblings for weeks that if Bayern won both the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal, first-year coach Niko Kovac was walking on thin ice with Bayern management and might not be brought back for next season despite having a three-year contract with the team.  To his credit, Kovac put all that noise out of his mind and kept telling the press that he expected to be back next year.  Since Bayern’s early season struggles, at which point Dortmund had built a nine-point lead over the defending champions, Kovac had also expressed confidence time and again that Bayern would catch Dortmund and win the title.  Kovac never wavered from that single-minded focus. Dortmund had beaten Bayern 3-2 in the first der Klassiker on November 10^th, and Bayern gave away two points to Fortuna Düsseldorf the following week.  Bayern then went on a 13-2-1 run [which saw them score 46 goals] until the return fixture of der Klassiker on Matchday 28 [April 6^th].  Bayern mauled Dortmund 5-0 and never looked back.  While Bayern rediscovered their killer instinct, Dortmund suffered its own rash of injuries and a patch of rough playing that allowed Bayern to climb back into the title race.

Bayern weren’t the only ones with a stake in the outcome of today’s game.  They were still playing for a chance to play in the UEFA Champions League or the Europa League.  Bayern, Dortmund, and RB Leipzig already had a lock on the top three positions to qualify for UEFA Champions League play.  At kickoff this is how the standings were [following RB Leipzig];

                                    Points              GD

BMG                             55                  +15

Leverkusen                    55                  +13

Frankfurt                       54                  +16

Wolfsburg                     52                  +5

At day’s end, only one of these teams would grab the final Champions League Spot. Two teams would get automatic places in the Europa League group stage.  One team would have to play their way into the Europa League.

When it finally came time to play the game, Bayern didn’t waste any time getting on the board.  At four minutes, Kingsley Coman found the back of the next from a nifty assist from Thomas Müller – 1-0 Bayern.  Nine minutes later, Frankfurt goalie Kevin Trapp made a huge save to deny a second goal from Robert Lewandowski.  At twenty minutes Müller got his feet tangled up and missed what looked like a certain goal.  At twenty-six minutes Serge Gnabry drilled the second goal past Trapp, but upon further review Lewandowski was offside and Gnabry’s goal was disallowed.  Bayern were in control for most of the first half.

Frankfurt substituted striker Sébastien Haller, who was sitting on fourteen goals for the season.  Bayern had to swap out Leon Goretzka for Renato Sanches [injury].  At fifty minutes, Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich failed to clear a Frankfurt corner, and Haller tied the score.  Frankfurt’s celebration didn’t last long.  Two minutes later Thomas Müller shot low at Frankfurt’s Trapp.  Trapp stopped Müller’s shot, but unable to control it, the ball rebounded to Bayern’s David Alaba, who wasted no time in putting Bayern back ahead 2-1.  Eight minutes later Sanches iced it for Bayern.  Sanches got the ball on the overlap on the left, blew past the defender before tucking inside and firing through Trapp.  After that goal, Kovac substituted Franck Ribery [playing his last home game for Bayern] for Kingsley Coman.  Nine minutes later Arjen Robben [also playing his last home game for Bayern] came on for Serge Gnabry.  Then the magic happened…

At 72’, Ribery scored in typical Ribery fashion.  He dribbled between two Frankfurt defenders inside the penalty area and lifted the ball over Trapp – 4-1 Bayern. At 36, Franck showed that for him, age is just a number.  Seven minutes later, Robben added his 99^th career Bundesliga goal – 5-1 Bayern.  It was especially sweet for Robben because he missed almost half the season due to injury, and it wasn’t known until last week whether he would ever take the field for Bayern again. It was a more-than-fitting home farewell for “Robbery”.  Eleven minutes later, Bayern won their seventh consecutive Meisterschale, and it was Paulaner beer shower time anyone connected to Bayern Munich.  It was Niko Kovac’s first Bundesliga championship as a head coach, and his first Paulaner shower.  Meanwhile in Mönchengladbach, Dortmund won 2-0.  They finished the day as they started it – two points behind Bayern.  They may not have won the championship, but they had a season that exceeded all of their expectations, and they made Bayern work for it.

As for rest of the Bundesliga matches of consequence:

Wolfsburg 8-1 Augsburg

Leverkusen 5-1 Hertha Berlin

Levekusen grabbed the final UEFA Champions League berth. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsburg made it to the Europa League automatically, while Frankfurt have to play their way into the Europa League.  Last season, Wolfsburg were on the verge of relegation to the second division.  They were saved from that fate by defeating Holstein Kiel in the two-game relegation playoff.  Last season Borussia Mönchengladbach finished in the middle of the pack in 9^th place.  Now they and Wolfsburg are in the Europa League.  Last year Leverkusen finished 5^th, good enough for the Europa League.  Now they’ve moved up to play in the Champions League next season.  Werder Bremen also improved from last year, but finished just one spot behind Frankfurt.  Consequently, Werder won’t be playing European football next season.  The biggest disappointment this season by far has been Schalke.  Last year they finished 2^nd in the Bundesliga.  This season they fell all the way to 14^th, costing coach Domenico Tedesco his job.  Despite qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League, BMG’s coach Dieter Hecking was also relieved of his job.  Finally, both Hannover and Nürnberg were automatically relegated to the second division.  Stuttgart and FC Union Berlin will face each other in the relegation playoff.

It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but by how much...

At the end of Matchday 25, Bayern Munich found themselves at the top of the Bundesliga standings for the first time since Matchday 7. They were tied on points with Borussia Dortmund, each of whom had 57 points. The difference between first and second was a mere two goals. Bayern had a +35-goal differential [goals scored vs. goals surrendered], while Dortmund’s goal differential was +33. If the standings remain like this through the end of the Bundesliga, Bayern will win on goal differential. However, if both teams are tied on points and also on goal differential, the next tie-breaker is the total number of goals scored during the season. As much as I dislike running up the score in sports, the way the Bundesliga standings are decided actually encourage the strong teams to run it up on weaker opponents as much as possible. If either Bayern or Dortmund are given the opportunity to stand on an opponent’s neck, they’ll do it and won’t feel bad about it in the least. At this point, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but by how much.

Yesterday I watched Dortmund play Hertha Berlin. It was one of the best games I’ve seen this season. It was a back-and-forth affair that wasn’t decided until the final minute of stoppage time. Berlin scored first at 4 minutes. Hertha midfielder Salomon Kalou tapped home a blocked shot from defender Maximilian Mittelstädt that Dortmund keeper Roman Bürki couldn’t clear. Ten minutes later Dortmund midfielder Thomas Delaney tied the score with a deflection off Hertha defender Karim Rekik that went past keeper Rune Jarstein. Kalou regained the lead for Hertha at 35 minutes with a penalty shot [handball in the box on Christian Pulisic]. The score remained 2-1 at halftime. Two minutes after play resumed Dortmund evened the score as Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou made a Jadon Sancho corner. The score remained 2-2 for most of the remainder of the game. Things took a turn against Hertha when defender Jordan Torunarigha received his second yellow card of the match [and the red card to go with it] and was sent off with only five minutes remaining in regulation. Could Hertha hang on for a draw while playing a man down against Dortmund? Dortmund captain Marco Reus provided the answer three minutes into stoppage time by scoring the winning goal. It was a thrilling finish and a heartbreaking loss for Hertha. Since the Matchday 24 loss to Augsburg, Dortmund have now won two in a row to keep pace with Bayern.

There’s not much to write about today’s match between Bayern Munich and FSV Mainz. I always feel sorry for the team that has to play Bayern the match after a Bayern loss. Today’s match was no different. Bayern demolished Mainz 6-0. Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski padded his Bundesliga goal lead [18] at just three minutes into the game, and Bayern didn’t look back. Midfielder James Rodriguez scored his first hat trick since coming to Bayern on a two-year loan from Real Madrid [I hope Bayern makes the loan permanent]. Kingsley Coman scored once, and rookie Alphonso Davies scored his first Bundesliga goal. He is the youngest Bayern player to score his first goal in twenty years, and is the first Bayern player born in the 2000s to score in the Bundesliga.

This year there is little room for error. Dortmund led the Bundesliga by as much as nine points, but they have seen their lead disappear with a slump after the winter break. Meanwhile, Bayern have scored 17 goals in their last three games while surrendering only one in the same period [defeating Borussia Monchengladbach 5-1, Wolfsburg 6-0, and Mainz 6-0]. Dortmund are out of the DFB-Pokal tournament [courtesy of Werder Bremen], and they are out of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) [courtesy of Tottenham]. Bayern are still in the DFB-Pokal, but Liverpool knocked them out of the UCL a few days ago – it wasn’t even close.

Dortmund and Bayern are still even on points with 60 each, but Bayern have increased their goal differential lead to seven. The two teams meet on April 6th. Dortmund won the first match in Dortmund 3-2. The return match is in Munich’s Allianz Arena. I have the date circled on my calendar. Dortmund captain Marco Reus put it best:

"The title race will stay tight until the end".

Augsburg Stun Dortmund

On paper, this would be a blowout. Borussia Dortmund ended their five-game winless streak last week against a very good Bayer Leverkusen team, 3-2. On the other side, FC Augsburg got hammered by SC Frieberg, 5-1. At kickoff, Borussia Dortmund stood at the top of the Bundesliga standings with 54 points, 3 points clear of second-place Bayern Munich. FC Augsburg stood fourth from the bottom at 18 points. They were only two points clear of Stuttgart, who currently are locked into the relegation playoff spot. Dortmund captain Marco Reus returned from his injury. One would think this would be an easy game for Dortmund. That turned out not to be the case.

In the first minute, it looked like this game would go as expected when an early defensive lapse almost resulted in a Dortmund goal. Luckily for Augsburg Dortmund couldn’t capitalize. Dortmund continued to press Augsburg’s defense. At 16:28 Augsburg had to make a defensive change due to defender Kostas Stafylidis getting injured [Austrian defender Georg Teigl came on in his place]. Augsburg’s defense settled down after the first 20 minutes and began to play fairly well.

South Korean striker Dong-won Ji [subbing for the injured Alfreð Finnbogason (calf)] opened the scoring for Augsburg at 23:45. Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou made a critical error, allowing Augsburg midfielder André Hahn to get around him to make a cross to Ji, who was positioned in front of Dortmund’s goal. The score remained 1-0 in favor of Augsburg at the half. Dortmund controlled possession of the ball 65 percent of the time, but could not score. Augsburg keeper Gregor Kobel was very busy in the first half, but he and Augsburg’s defense held Dortmund scoreless. Dortmund kept pressing but couldn’t break through.

Playing conditions were not ideal. It was 46F at kickoff. It started to rain, and the rain got steadily worse in the second half. At 65 minutes, Dortmund substituted defender Raphael Guerreiro for Marco Reus, and they also brought on striker Paco Alcácer for midfielder Thomas Delaney. Shortly thereafter, Dong-won Ji scored his second goal against Dan-Axel Zagadou at 68 after another Dortmund defensive miscue [Achraf Hakimi]. Zagadou was not having a good game. Augsburg were up 2-0. It was Ji’s first brace in six years. The field was wet and slippery, which made Dortmund’s task of catching Augsburg that much harder.

At 75 minutes Paco Alcácer [all he does is score goals] made a shot on goal that was denied by a brilliant save from Gregor Kobel. Alcácer had begun to celebrate when he realized he was denied by Kobel. It was the second brilliant save Kobel would make today. Alcácer’s celebration would have to wait. Alcácer didn’t have to wait long as he did score at the 81st minute. His goal cut Augsburg’s lead in half, making the game 2-1. Things got a bit chippy between André Hahn and Raphael Guerreiro, both of whom received yellow cards for their trouble. Dortmund made a ferocious charge to try to rescue a point in the standings, but Augsburg were too tough and too inspired for them today. After four minutes of stoppage time, Augsburg upset Dortmund, 2-1. Augsburg earned their first win at home against Dortmund ever.

Dortmund’s grip on first place is tenuous at best. At one time they were nine points clear of their nearest competitor. But now defending champion Bayern Munich are breathing down their necks, and Dortmund is starting to feel it. Bayern Munich will have to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 7-0 to take over first place. I don’t see that happening since BMG beat Bayern in the fall at the Allianz Arena. BMG are tough this year.

Dortmund in Trouble

Scoreless draws are usually boring as hell to watch. When they’re on, I usually “speed watch” them. Today’s Matchday 22 game between Borussia Dortmund and FC Nürnberg was not one of those games. At kickoff, Dortmund were sitting at the top of the Bundesliga standings [51 points], two points clear of Bayern Munich. FC Nürnberg are bringing up the rear, sitting in last place with a measly 12 points. At this stage of any Bundesliga season, no team with as few points as FC Nürnberg have avoided relegation to the second division. Today was a “first vs. last” clash. I expected Dortmund to win in a blowout like they did the first time the two teams met this season [Dortmund won at home, 7-0]. That didn’t happen today.

FC Nürnberg goalie Christian Mathenia more than earned his pay today. For the first half, he was Nürnberg’s only defense [or so it seemed to me]. Mathenia made two brilliant saves against Dortmund’s lone striker Mario Götze. Götze had fired off five of his side’s six efforts on goal by the hour mark, In the second half, Nürnberg’s defenders woke up. It looked as if Nürnberg were happy to settle for a draw, so they packed their defenders in their own penalty area. This made it difficult for Dortmund to break through with a goal. Paco Alcácer substituted for Maximillian Phillip at the 63-minute mark. He narrowly missed scoring when he pushed a shot just wide of Nürnberg’s net. Jacob Bruun Larsen substituted for Dortmund’s Thomas Delaney at the 80th minute. At the 86th minute Bruun Larsen took a pass from Alcácer and put it in the back of Nürnberg’s net, but the goal was disallowed – Alcácer was clearly offside when he received the ball before he passed to Bruun Larsen. Four minutes of extra time were added, but Nürnberg fended off every Dortmund challenge. Nürnberg earned that one point with the draw. Christian Mathenia earned his first “clean sheet” against Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund are in trouble. At one point in the season, they were nine points ahead of Bayern Munich in the standings. Now they are only three points ahead. Dortmund have racked up numerous injuries. Team captain Marco Reus has missed several games with a thigh injury. Christian Pulisic injured his hamstring in last week’s UEFA Champions League loss to Tottenham. Key defenders Lukasz Piszczek and Manuel Akanji have missed games, and Dortmund’s defense [lack thereof] shows. Last week, they snatched a draw from the jaws of victory against Hoffenheim. Days before the Hoffenheim game, Werder Bremen eliminated them from DFB-Pokal competition. Tottenham hammered them last week 3-0, and now the scoreless draw against a last-place team. They need to right the ship quickly. By the way, their next Bundesliga game is against Bayer Leverkusen, the hottest team since the end of the winter break. Since losing the first game after the winter break 1-0 to Borussia Mönchegladbach, Bayer Leverkusen have won four straight, including a 3-1 Matchday 21 victory over Bayern Munich.

Borussia Dortmund - Time to Panic?

What has happened to Borussia Dortmund? They started the current Bundesliga campaign in beast mode. Through the first seven weeks, they won six and drew once. They scored 21 goals while surrendering only two. They gave up zero goals in the first four matches. They seemed to be running away with the Bundesliga. Then the wheels fell off. Their last win in Bundesliga play came on Matchday 7 against Augsburg. That was September 30th [it’s mid-November now]. Since then, they’ve lost [including today] to RB Leipzig [at home!], Hannover 96, Bayern Munich [at home!] and VfB Stuttgart. The best they could manage was a 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. In their last two UEFA Champions League matches, they managed two 1-1 draws against APOEL Nicosia. In four days they play Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League, then Schalke four days later. Schalke is the team immediately behind them in the Bundesliga standings. They might catch a break the following week against Bayer Leverkusen [they’re currently 9th in the Bundesliga].

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is but one barometer to measure Dortmund’s success. As he goes, so goes Dortmund. But lately, he’s been in a bit of a funk. He hasn’t scored since Matchday 8. For reasons unexplained he was suspended for the Matchday 12 match against VfB Stuttgart. That’s not to say that Dortmund’s current slide is Aubameyang’s fault – it isn’t. Since that Matchday 7 victory against Augsburg, Dortmund have surrendered 14 goals while scoring only eight. After seeming to runaway with the league in the first seven weeks, Dortmund now find themselves in third place behind Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig [same as last year]. Bayern Munich fired Carlo Ancelotti for lackluster play – could Peter Bosz be next? Since replacing Thomas Tuchel, Bosz introduced an always-pressing style. Is the team already exhausted? I don’t know, but during today’s Bundesliga telecast, Bosz was quoted as the rest of the league have “figured out” Dortmund. I just got back from two weeks in Korea and last night I watched Der Klassiker against Bayern Munich [Bayern won 3-1]. Dortmund’s defense wasn’t pretty. They kept giving Bayern too much space to operate, and Bayern made them pay. Today against Stuttgart, Stuttgart ran Dortmund into the ground. If Bosz doesn’t make any adjustments to the league’s having “figured out” his team, he could follow Ancelotti to the unemployment line.

Nov. 19th note - Between September 30th and now, Borussia Dortmund have fallen from first place to fifth. Meanwhile, Schalke now sits in second place. Good luck Dortmund, you’ll need it.

Bundesliga Match Day 4

Fox Sports televised six Bundesliga games this weekend. On Friday, Hannover defeated Hamburg 2-0. After spending last season in 2. Bundesliga, Hannover are in surprisingly good form. They’re so good right now that for the first time since Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, Hannover found themselves in first place, even if it was for only two days. Three of the televised games were blowouts: Bayern Munich 4, Mainz 0; Bayer Leverkusen 4, Freiburg 0; and Borussia Dortmund 5, FC Köln 0.

Robert Lewandowski scored a pair for Bayern, which puts him at 5 goals thus far season. Maximilian Philipp and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang each scored a pair for Dortmund. That puts Aubameyang at four goals to date. Dortmund are in beast mode this season, scoring ten goals without allowing a single goal in four games. New coach Peter Bosz’s always-pressing style is paying dividends for now. I don’t know how long Dortmund can keep up the pace, but right now they don’t appear to miss Ousmane Dembele. Dembele made the move to Barcelona for a truckload of money, but in his La Liga debut yesterday he severely injured a hamstring, which will put him out of action for three to four months. FC Köln hasn’t shown any offense so far – in four matches they’ve scored only twice. They miss Anthony Modeste, who transferred to Tianjin Quanjian of the Chinese Super League this summer.

Timo Werner [pictured above] has been playing extremely well as of late. Having been awarded the Golden Boot for the most goals scored during this summer’s Confederations Cup [3], Werner recorded his fourth goal of the season in RB Leipzig’s match with Borussia Mönchengladbach. His is the top German scorer in the Bundesliga. Of the six matches televised this weekend, the RB Leipzig-Borussia Mönchengladbach match, which ended in a 2-2 draw, was the most entertaining. Werner drew first blood in the 17th minute, but seven minutes later Borussia Mönchengladbach equalized after Belgian midfielder Thorgan Hazard converted a penalty shot. Jean-Kévin Augustin [signed this summer from Paris Saint Germain] restored Leipzig’s lead in the 34th minute. Leipzig held the lead until Lars Stindl hammered home the equalizing goal from outside the penalty area. Leipzig’s goalie Péter Gulácsi did everything right, going airborne in the direction of Stindl’s shot, but Stindl’s thunderbolt was in just the right spot, out of Gulácsi’s reach. Leipzig kept pressing, but Mönchengladbach’s defense responded to each challenge. It was a riveting contest. With RB Leipzig’s second place finish n the Budesliga, they are playing in the UEFA Champions League, just like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. They’re playing with the big boys in Europe now. They played Monaco to a 1-1 draw last week.

Last week Hoffenheim stunned Bayern Munich at home 2-0. They started today’s match against Hertha Berlin in 7th place with the chance to move up to third with a win. They had a very good season last year, which was good enough to earn them the chance to get into the UEFA Champions League. They lost a two-game playoff to Liverpool, so now they’re playing in the Europa League. As it is, Hoffenheim, like RB Leipzig, are doing double duty in the Bundesliga and European football. It’ll be interesting to see how both of these clubs last. They no longer have the luxury to rest while Bayern and Borussia play the extra games with the rest of Europe. Hertha Berlin are no strangers to European play. Like Hoffenheim, they too are playing in the UEFA Europa League. Last week they played Athletic Bilbao to a 0-0 draw.

As for today’s match, Sandro Wagner put Hoffenheim ahead early with a header in just the sixth minute of play. Hoffenheim held the lead until Hertha Berlin’s Alexander Esswein equalized in the 55th minute. Both teams seemed to play like they were tired, and they probably were. After the equalizer, it was a pretty dull game. I know, for a lot of people this is a dull sport.

2017 German Super Cup

This is the part of the year that She Who Must Be Obeyed dreads – the start of a new German Bundesliga season. The very first game of every new season in the German Bundesliga is the German Super Cup. It is a one-off football match between the regular season Bundesliga champion and the German Cup [DFB-Pokal] winner. The best analogy I could think of in North American sports would be if there was one game between the President’s Trophy winner and the Stanley Cup winner in the NHL. In the Bundesliga, if one team wins the domestic double [the regular season and the German Cup], then the league runners-up are invited as the second team. That happened last year. This year, and for the fifth time in six years, it was Bayern vs. Dortmund. Each team was looking for a record sixth Super Cup win. This game doesn’t count in the season standings, but it does matter.

Both teams have some new faces. Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel’s reward for winning last season’s German Cup was to be fired at season’s end. During Tuchel’s two-year tenure at Dortmund, there was much disagreement between him and club management. The final straw between them occurred after Dortmund’s team bus was attacked in Monaco prior to a UEFA Champions League match against AS Monaco. That match was postponed one day. Tuchel wanted a longer postponement – he didn’t get one. Tuchel effectively pointed the finger at CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke for “making” the players play just 24 hours after the incident [Dortmund lost]. Tuchel disagreed with management letting go of talent like Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Tuchel’s successor as coach is Peter Bosz, whose last team was the Dutch club AFC Ajax. Bosz brings a more pressing style to Dortmund, which promises to not let any of Dortmund’s opponents to get too comfortable. Dortmund’s opponents need to be on their toes at all times with Dortmund doing more pressing than in years past. The player turnover for Borussia Dortmund from last year looks like this”

In

Dan-Axel Zagadou (from Paris Saint Germain Academy) [Defender]

Mahmoud Dahoud (from Borussia Mönchengladbach) [Midfielder]

Maximilian Philipp (from SC Freiburg) [Midfielder]

Ömer Toprak (from Bayer Leverkusen] [Defender]

Out

Sven Bender (to Bayer Leverkusen) [Midfielder]

Matthias Ginter (to Borussia Mönchengladbach) [Defender]

Mikel Merino (on loan to Newcastle United FC) [Midfielder]

Dženis Burnić (on loan to VfB Stuttgart) [Midfielder]

Happily, Mario Götze is back in training with Dortmund after missing the last few weeks of last season due to a metabolic problem [but he didn’t play today]. Also missing today was Marco Reus and Raphaël Guerreiro.

Bayern experienced some player turnover of their own. Three players retired – team captain and defender Phillip Lahm, Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso, and backup goalie Tom Stark. The rest of the team turnover looks like this:

In

Niklas Süle (from 1899 Hoffenheim) [Defender]

Sebastian Rudy (from 1899 Hoffenheim) [Midfielder]

James Rodríguez (on loan from Real Madrid CF) [Midfielder]

Corentin Tolisso (from Olympique Lyonnais) [Midfielder]

Felix Götze (promoted from Bayern U19) [Defender]

Christian Früchtl (promoted from Bayern U19) [Goalie]

Serge Gnabry (from Werder Bremen) [Midfielder]

Serge Gnabry was part of the German international squad that just won the Confederations Cup. He was one of the better shining stars for Werder Bremen in a long time. But he wanted to play elsewhere, so he voided his contract and signed with Bayern Munich. But there’s a twist – he wanted to be loaned to another team so that he could get more playing time. So that’s why we see him as both an addition and a subtraction for Bayern. We don’t know how long the loan will be in effect. He’s young and has a bright future ahead of him.

Out

Douglas Costa (on loan to Juventus FC) [Midfielder]

Serge Gnabry (on loan to 1899 Hoffenheim) [Midfielder]

Holger Badstuber (to VfB Stuttgart) [Defender]

Manuel Neuer didn’t play today either. He broke his foot during UEFA Champions League play against Real Madrid last spring. The good news for Bayern fans is that he is fit enough to be back in training. Sven Ulreich played in Neuer’s place. Usual starters David Alaba and Arjen Robben didn’t play either, nor did new acquisition James Rodriguez.

But enough about the off season- what about the game? I wasn’t sure what to expect from Bayern or Dortmund because they’ve each had a lousy pre-season. Bayern had an early chance at 10:29 when Thomas Müller found Robert Lewandowski, who managed to slip behind two Dortmund defenders [how he stayed onside I don’t know]. There was nothing between him and the Dortmund goal except Roman Bürki, but his shot sailed well over the crossbar. But soon after [exactly one minute], Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic picked Bayern defender Javi Martinez’s pocket and got an easy first goal for Dortmund. I love to watch this guy play. He’s as cool as the proverbial cucumber, playing well beyond his 18 years.

Dortmund’s lead didn’t last long. Lewandowski evened the score at 17:37. After Dortmund’s Sokratis made a dumb foul against Lewandowski [and received a yellow card for his trouble], Bayern received a free kick. After Arturo Vidal took the free kick Sebastian Rudy found Joshua Kimmich, who beat Dortmund’s offside trap on the right. He quickly found Lewandowski streaking toward the goal. Bürki didn’t stand a chance. I thought Kimmich was offside, but the new Video Assisted Referee [VAR] said Kimmich was onside. After Lewandowski’s equalizer, Bayern finally found their rhythm and looked more comfortable. With Dortmund keeping up the pressure and Bayern getting their act together, the remainder of the first half was end-to-end high tempo. After 45 minutes, the score was 1-1.

The beginning of the second half was fairly uneventful until the 63rd minute. Ousmane Dembélé found Gonzalo Castro sprinting toward the goal, but Castro missed the header by mere inches. If he connects it’s 2-1, Dortmund. But it wasn’t to be. But then, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang [last season’s leading goal scorer] put Dortmund ahead 2-1 on a furious counterattack with a chip shot over Sven Ulreich. Lewandowski was driving toward a goal when he elected to pass the ball instead of taking the shot himself. That triggered the Dortmund counterattack. In the 75th minute the referees awarded Dortmund a free kick when Arturo Vidal fouled Pulisic. Vidal was lucky he didn’t receive a second yellow card on the foul. If he did he would’ve also received a red card and Bayern would have had to play a man down. Nuri Şahin took the free kick just outside the Bayern penalty area, but his shot went straight to Sven Ulreich.

Dortmund’s pressure nearly led to a third goal in the 81st minute. In the 87th minute, Sebastian Rudy took a free kick just outside the Dortmund penalty area after Kimmich was fouled. There was a mad scramble in front of the net, with Kimmich getting the equalizer. Dortmund claimed there was a Bayern handball, but again the VAR said “no”. The goal credited to Kimmich was an own goal from Roman Bürki. Initially the match commentators thought the ball deflected off Lukasz Piszczek, but when I looked at the videotape from behind Dortmund’s goal, the ball clearly came off Bürki’s arm. Once again Bayern were back from the dead as they had done so many times last season. As this was a match for a trophy [insert “participation trophy” joke here], after four minutes of stoppage time this game went to penalty kicks.

Penalty Kicks

Bayern - Lewandowski – Yes; Franck Ribéry – Yes; Kimmich – No; Rudy – Yes; Vidal – Yes; Niklas Süle – Yes

Dortmund - Dembélé – Yes; Max Philipp – Yes; Aubameyang – Yes; Sebastian Rode – No; Castro – Yes; Marc Bartra – No

Penalty shootouts are fun to watch. In all sports, there are guys who want the ball when the game is on the line, and you know they want the ball. For goalkeepers, it’s all about making the right guess which way the shooter is going to shoot. That’s why when you see a goalie going the opposite way that the shot went, you know he guessed wrong. On the flip side, sometimes you get to see some fantastic saves [the goalie guessed right]. Usually, each team gets five shots at the other team’s goalie. Those are the five guys who picked themselves to be in the penalty shootout. After those five guys have had their turn, then it gets really interesting. At that time, the teams go to guys who normally wouldn’t take penalty shots. And so, it was today. After Bayern’s first five, new guy Niklas Süle [a defender] stepped up and nailed his shot like he’s a midfielder. Marc Bartra [who was injured in the bus attack in Monaco] was up next. He looked to me like he didn’t want the ball. And as fate would have it, Sven Ulreich guessed right and he was Bayern’s newest hero. It was a wonderful save. Bayern won the record sixth Super Cup. It was a brutal way for Dortmund to lose. They led Bayern twice, outplayed Bayern in the second half, but Bayern is Bayern. You have to put a stake through their hearts to make sure they’re dead.

Observations: Dortmund got off to a fast start with the pressure, but after Bayern equalized they had the better first half. As he did during the Confederations Cup, Sebastian Rudy was quietly effective playing in the midfield. He marked Ousmane Dembélé extremely well, such that I didn’t hear Dembélé’s name called until the second half. And he converted his penalty kick effortlessly. Rudy might just be the Xabi Alonso replacement that Bayern needs. Thomas Müller didn’t score any goals, but he got a big assist for the first goal. He nearly scored two goals in the first half. Given the two goals he scored on Bayern’s Asia exhibition tour, he might be returning to his old self and last year can be a distant [if not painful] memory. And this just in – Joshua Kimmich is a damn good defender. He might just make it hard to miss Phillip Lahm.

Dortmund’s pressure is going to pay dividends. They gave up 40 goals last season. If they keep this up, that total will go down. It has to because Dortmund’s backline defense still needs work. Roman Bürki was very busy today, and not in a good way. But Dortmund will be more fun to watch this season, because they have a lot of weapons with which to attack. I don’t think Bayern is going to run away with the Bundesliga title like they did last season, if they win it at all.

As always, in-studio hostess Kate Abdo looks as good as ever. 😊