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".

Hoffenheim win 3-3

Those who say there are no “moral victories” in sports didn’t watch the Bundesliga Matchday 21 game between Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim. Dortmund were in complete control of the game at halftime, leading 2-0. Captain Marco Reus was out for today’s game with a thigh injury, but Dortmund has an embarrassment of riches with the young players acquired during the last off-season [Jadon Sancho, Paco Alcácer]. Hoffenheim were lucky the score wasn’t twice that, because they didn’t have it together at all in the first half. Things didn’t look much better for Hoffenheim when Dortmund went up 3-0 at the 66:58 mark. Dortmund were playing at home at Signal Iduna Park, where they rarely lose. Hoffenheim were as good as dead. Today’s match commentators implied as much. Dortmund were toying with Hoffenheim like a cat does a squirrel before going for the kill. At 69:17 Paco Alcácer came off the bench for Dortmund, replacing Maximillian Philipp. Since coming to Dortmund on a loan from Barcelona, all he does is score goals. This season he’s scored ten, and is in the hunt of the Torjägerkanone, awarded to the league’s top goal scorer.

Sancho nearly made it 4-0 when his shot hit the post at 74:04. But at 74:39, Hoffenheim striker Ishak Belfodil, a second-half substitute, made the score 3-1. The ball barely got past Dortmund keeper Roman Bürki, but it was enough. Finally, the game was interesting. Commentator Phil Bonney said it was a shame Hoffenheim didn’t get their first goal when the game was 2-0, but there were still fifteen minutes to play. A lot can happen in the Bundesliga in fifteen minutes – just ask anyone who plays Bayern Munich. At 82 minutes, Dortmund substituted defender Ömer Toprak for midfielder Mario Götze, who had one goal and one brilliant assist before coming off. It seemed as if Dortmund were slowly locking down Hoffenheim and would take the three points with a victory. However, almost immediately after Toprak came on for Götze, Hoffenheim defender Pavel Kaderábek put a fantastic header past Bürki to make the score 3-2. In an instant the game seemed to be slipping away from Dortmund. They were still leading, but there was a sense of impending doom in front of the home fans. Suddenly, it was “game on” again.

Paco Alcácer nearly made it 4-2 with a shot that went just wide. Dortmund were awarded a corner kick off the play but couldn’t capitalize. They had two more corner kicks in rapid succession and still could not score. This would come back to bite Dortmund. After a foul in Hoffenheim’s end, Hoffenheim brought the ball into Dortmund’s end. A Dortmund foul resulted in a free kick for Hoffenheim. Unlike Dortmund just minutes before, Hoffenheim capitalized on the foul. Midfielder Dennis Geiger, another second-half substitute for Hoffenheim, delivered the free kick into the Dortmund penalty area. Ishak Belfodil made a diving header at 86:49, tying the score 3-3. To give you an idea how significant this is, Hoffenheim have been horrible at scoring from set-piece plays. This time they did, against the league-leaders in their own yard. There the score remained until the referee blew the whistle at the end of two minutes of stoppage time. This game was reminiscent of last year’s Revierderby against Schalke, when Dortmund blew a 4-0 halftime lead and drew with Schalke 4-4. This was a massive comeback by Hoffenheim. Dortmund had the three points in the bag, and they let them slip away. It was a very hard-fought point for Hoffenheim.

Roman Bürki did not have a bad game. He made some brilliant saves in the first half to keep Hoffenheim scoreless. His defense let him down in the second half – again. Defense has always been Dortmund’s Achilles’ Hell, and so it was today. This hasn’t been a good week for Borussia Dortmund. Earlier this week, Werder Bremen eliminated them from the DFB-Pokal. With today’s draw, and Bayern Munich’s 3-1 win over Schalke, Dortmund are only five points clear of Bayern. There are thirteen games left to play this season, and the title is still Dortmund’s to lose. Dortmund has to put this result out of their minds of they are to keep ahead of Bayern. Mario Götze said this on his FB page:

“Happy about the ⚽️ and the 🅰️ but the result feels like a defeat...”