Dortmund’s Marco Reus (l) and Bayern’s Leon Goretzka fight for the ball.
Photo: Martin Meissner / Pool AP / dpa
Only one of the protagonists was deeply saddened after this wonderful soccer game between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern came to an end. By the time Munich celebrated their precious 3-2 victory, Joshua Kimmich had long since disappeared into the dressing room – his knee hurt, as was the view of the near future. When the international lay on the pitch in the 35th minute as a result of a collision with Erling Haaland, all kinds of thoughts could be interpreted into his apparent despair: the fear of an operation, months ago without football, even of missing the European championship next summer. On Sunday, the assumption was confirmed that Kimmich would have to undergo surgery with suspected meniscus tear in his right knee.
The whole Munich team was shocked for a few minutes, “you noticed that we had to find each other again after the injury,” said Manuel Neuer after the game. At this point the goalkeeper’s mood was pretty good again. Neuer had been part of a splendid Bundesliga spectacle. And as almost always when the two rivals met last, he was one of the winners. “The game was sensationally good and we were just a little more efficient,” said Munich coach Hansi Flick, summarizing the course of the evening precisely.
Lucien Favre had seen it similarly. But the BVB coach also quarreled, he seemed to be unable to believe what had happened on the pitch. “We had so many chances to score,” he said with a mixture of astonished admiration for his team’s offensive power and grief over the lack of final efficiency. At this point, this top game also differed significantly from the duels from the recent past: FC Bayern is currently defensively vulnerable. Again and again attacks rolled towards the goal of Munich – and Marco Reus scored in the 45th minute to lead, in many other moments only nuances for further goals were missing.
“You can see that a few players are good with their right foot and not that good with their left,” said Favre, probably thinking of the wonderful goal opportunity of right-footed Marco Reus, who volleyed five meters over the left in injury time Latte thrashed. And the possibility of left-footed Erling Haaland, who shortly after the break played a cross pass with his right to Giovanni Reyna, who was waiting in front of the empty goal, but too imprecise.
On the Munich side was Robert Lewandowski, who is almost equally good with both feet. The top striker had headed 2-1 and scored two more goals, which the video referee canceled due to offside positions. The game was a show and both sides were characterized by courage and the will to score goals. The Bavarians would have simply been a little more lucky, was Mats Hummels’ core thesis. “All three opposing goals were deflected,” said the defender after David Alaba’s shot hit Thomas Meunier’s upper body to make it 1-1 (45th). Lewandowski’s 1: 2 fell after touching the ball with Hummels’ shoulder (48th), and the conclusion of Leroy Sané (80th) only became untenable through contact with Manuel Akajni’s legs.
It is time to be more aware that “luck and bad luck are often the deciding factors in big games,” said Hummels. In this case, however, the result was a pretty perfect representation of what had happened on the lawn. Munich made a similar number of mistakes on the defensive, but offensively, they were “just a bit faster in the right situations and maybe a bit cooked off,” said Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka.
The Dortmunders still have the knowledge to get closer to Bavaria. Haaland, who was shortened to 2: 3 (83rd), is better integrated, the defense is more stable, the maturation process of many talents is progressing. It is also comforting that the setback came quite early in the season and so there are still many chances to catch up. The greed with which Bayern won the Champions League in the summer is still great. But possibly the moment when Kimmich got injured, it was an indication that they too did not have infinite resources of energy and willpower. He was a little late in the fatal situation, that’s the only reason he had tried to bring Haaland down with a tactical foul.
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