FULL TIME: Bayern Munich 5-0 Fortuna Dusseldorf
Tick, tock, tick, tock ... and that’s your lot. No injury time to speak of, the referee putting Fortuna out of their misery. Bayern go ten points clear at the top. The best you can say about Fortuna is that the scoreline could have been a whole lot worse, and they don’t have to play the champions-elect again this season as they battle against relegation. Thanks for reading this MBM; stay healthy, everyone.
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90 min: A yellow card for Suttner, who had been yapping away at the referee. There will be four added seconds.
88 min: But Batista Meier is enjoying his debut, and he nearly outstrips Giesselmann down the right. He draws a foul, and it’s a free kick that’s essentially a corner. Kimmich whips it in to nobody in particular. Fortuna half clear, allowing Zirkzee to probe down the other flank. He reaches the byline and arrows towards the near post, where Kastenmeier gathers.
87 min: A real sense that everyone just wants to go home now.
85 min: Given the way this match has gone, Fortuna have done reasonably well to keep the score down to five.
83 min: Davies earns a corner down the left. From the set piece, Goretzka slams wide right from 12 yards. But there was a deflection, so it’s another corner. And from that one, a big comic-book cloud of dust is kicked up in the six-yard box, several hobnail boots sticking out of it, as Bayern attempt to force the ball home, while Fortuna try to clear. The defence eventually wins out, but it took plenty of hoofing and fresh-air swiping.
81 min: But this is nice from Cuisance, who draws a couple of players on the right and slips Odriozola away down the wing. The resulting pull back is no good and Fortuna clear.
80 min: Cuisance has plenty of time, 30 yards out, but his attempt to slide Perisic clear down the left clanks out for a goal kick. He’s had a couple of rushes of blood since coming on.
78 min: Gnabry is replaced by Oliver Batista Meier, a 19-year-old German-born Brazilian winger making his debut for Bayern.
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77 min: Bayern stroke it around the back, just because they can.
75 min: Muller, who has had a fine match, departs to a smattering of applause. He’s replaced by Zirkzee.
73 min: Pledl comes on in his place. Meanwhile Kimmich tries to score direct from a corner. It’s that sort of game now. Nearly, but not quite.
72 min: Sobottka has picked up an injury after a coming together with Davies. It doesn’t look as though he’ll be able to continue.
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70 min: No idea how Bayern haven’t scored their sixth here. Davies nearly bustles clear down the inside left, but the door closes just in time. Then Gnabry works his way into the box from the right and whacks a low shot towards the bottom left. Kastenmeier parries, but only manages to tee up Lewandowski, six yards out. However the striker gets his legs in a tangle and can’t quite get his shot away. Eventually Hoffmann manages to hoick clear. This is absurd. Fortuna are a total shambles at the back.
68 min: Davies has a bash, just inside the box on the left. His shot is well parried by Kastenmeier, and it turns out Davies was offside anyway.
67 min: Cuisance tries to catch out Kastenmeier, standing in the middle of a crowded box, with a quick direct free kick from 30 yards. Nope!
66 min: Another double change by Fortuna. Suttner and Zimmer replace Zimmerman and Thommy.
65 min: Berisha busies himself to win a corner out on the left. The ball comes back to Giesselmann, who pearls a low screamer towards the bottom right from 25 yards. It’s a glorious hit, and heading in, but Neuer reacts extremely well to tip it around the post. He must have seen that very late, it’s a great save. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
63 min: It should be six. Alaba threads a lovely diagonal pass, left to right, through a crowded area to Muller on the edge of the six-yard box. Muller must score, but wildly slashes his shot wide right. He’s livid with himself, and so he should be, not that it matters.
62 min: Now Bayern make a double change, to shake things up. Odriozola and Perisic come on for Pavard and Coman.
61 min: Bayern can be forgiven for thinking the job is done. And so Thommy is allowed some space and time for a shot. It’s high and wide right.
60 min: Zimmerman storms down the right and curls a gorgeous cross into the Bayern box. It’s right on Hoffmann’s head ... but he somehow heads over the bar from six yards! Bang goes the chance of a consolation.
58 min: Zimmerman nearly turns the Bayern corner into his own net from a couple of yards. The ball squirts inches wide left. The second corner is hacked clear. This is a complete mismatch.
57 min: Before the corner can be taken, Fortuna make a double change. On come Berisha and Sobottka, while Morales and Stoger have the good grace to look embarrassed as they depart.
56 min: Pavard creams a shot towards the bottom right from 25 yards. It’s a pearler, and Kastenmeier does extremely well to turn it around the post.
55 min: Number six is just a matter of time. Lewandowski heads over from six yards, and scrunches up his face, knowing full well he could really go to town this evening.
54 min: In between those two goals, Cuisance took a hysterical shot from a good position on the edge of the box. It could easily be six. Bayern are seriously impressive, but Fortuna are a rabble.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 5-0 Fortuna Dusseldorf (Davies 52)
Stoger fannies around on the edge of his own box, just to the left of the D. Davies strips him of possession and dribbles past Bodzek and Zanka, neither of whom can be bothered to make any sort of chllenge. Davies bashes the ball past Kastenmeier, he can’t miss.
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GOAL! Bayern Munich 4-0 Fortuna Dusseldorf (Lewandowski 50)
You wait for ages for one goal against Fortuna, etc. Coman dinks a clever pass wide right for Gnabry, who fires low towards Lewandowski. One elegant backflick later, and the ball’s nestling into the bottom right.
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48 min: Coman and Gnabry combine down the left. Coman hooks into the centre. Fortuna clear under more Lewandowski pressure. Then another phase as Gnabry sends Alaba swanning down the left. His low, hard cross is smothered by Kastenmeier, who will have earned his money today.
47 min: Lewandowski nearly bullies Hoffman off the ball, as the Fortuna central defender struggles to deal with a long pass. He eventually manages it, just about, heading the ball away in undignified fashion, while on all fours. This could be a long half for the visitors.
Here we go again, then! Fortuna get the second half underway. Bayern have made one half-time change, replacing Hernandez with Cuisance.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Bayern Munich 3-0 Fortuna Dusseldorf
The players trot off. Fortuna coach Uwe Rosler stays in the dugout, looking stunned. His team have been eviscerated. They’re usually better in the first half than the second, too, so he’s got plenty to think about. Perhaps too much.
45 min: Fortuna were the only current Bundesliga side who Robert Lewandowski hadn’t scored against. That’s that box ticked, then.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 3-0 Fortuna Dusseldorf (Lewandowski 43)
This is such a magnificent goal. Alaba slides a pass down the inside-right for Lewandowski, who immediately flicks it around the corner to send Kimmich scampering into space. He reaches the six-yard box and pulls back for Muller, who flicks cutely inside, allowing Lewandowski to smash home from ten yards. Such a smooth move!
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41 min: A long ball down the right nearly releases Karaman, but the efficient and exciting Davies brings it down from the air and strides off gracefully.
39 min: Gnabry, chancing his arm down the left, brings down a high ball with an exquisite touch. He turns and makes his way along the byline, his cross-cum-shot pinballing into the arms of Kastenmeier at the near post. Bayern are getting closer and closer to the third goal that’d put this game to bed.
38 min: Gnabry glides in from the left and makes enough room to have a pop from 25 yards. He looks for the top right, but his shot is high and wide. A lovely run, though. That’d have been a picture-book goal.
36 min: Another decent Fortuna attack, as Karaman grooves down the right and crosses low towards Thommy. But the ball flies behind his team-mate, a poor pass. Pavard is able to clear as a result. Signs though that relentless old Bayern are human after all.
35 min: Coman stepovers his way down the right and fires low towards the near post. Gnabry nearly gets there before Kastenmeier, but the keeper holds on.
33 min: Thommy crosses from the left. Bayern’s defence is all over the shop, and Karaman can take a touch on the spot before firing towards the bottom right. Neuer’s never getting there, but Davies sticks out a leg to block brilliantly. Bayern’s two-goal lead remains intact, but that will have given Fortuna heart, and a little hope.
31 min: That’s Pavard’s fifth goal of the season. Can Fortuna stage another two-goal comeback here? Right now, it looks unlikely. Bayern are sashaying about like they own the place, which they sort of do.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 2-0 Fortuna Dusselforf (Pavard 29)
Pavard needed some help from Zanka earlier, but he’s managed to score now. He meets the right-wing corner with a downward header that bounces up towards the top right. Kastenmeier is late to react, and can’t scoop clear. In it goes!
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28 min: Pavard strides down the right and curls a lovely cross to the near post, where Muller belts towards the bottom right. Kastenmeier does extremely well to turn the ball round the post for a corner. But ...
26 min: A rare sortie into enemy territory for Dusseldorf. Karaman chases after a chip down the left, but in his attempt to bring the ball down, boots Hernandez on the nip end. It’s clumsy, and a slightly harsh booking. But in the book he goes, his fourth yellow of the campaign.
24 min: Goretzka has a whack from distance. Blocked. Then Muller, out on the right, crosses towards Lewandowski at the far post. Just a little bit too much on it, and it’s a goal kick, some blessed relief for Fortuna, who are being stretched to the limit here.
22 min: Kastenmeier blooters a drop kick straight down the park to Neuer. That’ll boost the shots-on-target stats if nothing else.
21 min: Bayern are first to absolutely everything. Muller and Goretzka flick the ball this way and that as they glide down the middle. They can’t work an opening this time, but one’s surely coming soon.
19 min: It’s all Bayern now. The game is being played entirely in the Fortuna half. A second goal seems no more than a matter of time.
17 min: A job on for Fortuna now. Kimmich and Goretzka probe down the right. Fortuna are only able to hack clear; holding it up is a pipe dream at the minute. Bayern will be coming back at them again, in short order.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-0 Fortuna Dusseldorf (Zanka og 15)
Fortuna half-clear Kimmich’s corner, but Bayern come straight back at them. Muller, on the left, whips long to Gnabry at the far post. Gnabry drives the ball across the face of goal. Pavard swings and prods goalwards. In fact, it’s going wide left, but Zanka can’t get out of the way and haplessly trundles the ball into his own net.
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14 min: Davies drives down the left and wins the first corner of the game. From which ...
13 min: Pavard drags a shot wide right from distance. It’s good fun, this.
11 min: Lewandowski dinks a lovely pass down the inside left to release Gnabry, who is clear in the box with time to shoot. But he dallies and is blocked by Zimmerman ... and he’s well offside anyway. There are goals here, if someone somewhere can just find a final ball.
9 min: One long boot forward and Skrzybski races clear down the right. He’s got Thommy in the middle, free, but strangely declines to play a mean ball inside, electing to skitter along the wing by himself instead. Bad decision. He’s eventually closed down by Alaba.
8 min: Pavard, Kimmich and Muller flick it around in a very pretty fashion down the right. For a second, it looks as though they’re going to juggle their way through the Fortuna defence. Not quite, but it’s all very elegant.
6 min: Kimmich chips down the middle to release Lewandowski, who takes an uncharacteristically heavy touch, allowing Kastenmeier to come out and intercept. Lewandowski clumsily clatters the keeper, and is slightly fortunate to escape a booking. Just a free kick. We could easily have had two or three goals already. This is promising.
4 min: Some open early exchanges here. Now it’s Fortuna’s turn to nearly score, Skrzybski sending Karaman tearing down the right. Karaman pulls back for Morales, who attempts to guide a shot into the top left from the edge of the box. It’s easy for Neuer, but Bayern gave up a good chance there.
2 min: Bayern should be leading. Gnabry dribbles with purpose down the middle and feeds Davies on the left. Davies slides the ball across goal for Lewandowski, who fails to toe-poke it home. Ah, and it seems both Davies and Lewandowski were offside anyway, needlessly so. Fortuna got away with one there.
And we’re off! Bayern get the ball rolling, then knock it about for a bit.
Here come the teams! Bayern, who need just four more wins to secure the title, are dressed all in red. Fortuna, who haven’t won here since 1991, are in third-choice black. We’ll be off in a minute, once the players silently remember those who have lost their lives to Covid-19.
Yes, first versus 16th ... this should be a shoo-in for the reigning champions, shouldn’t it. Especially as Bayern have won their last nine games in all competitions, and 17 of their last 18, drawing the other. Extra-especially as Bayern won the reverse fixture 4-0 in November. But hold on! Bayern came something of a cropper in this fixture last season, letting a 3-1 lead slip in the last 13 minutes, Dodi Lukebakio (now of Hertha Berlin) salvaging a 3-3 draw by completing a hat-trick. Also, while Fortuna may be battling relegation, their Bundesliga form is good: they’re unbeaten in six, taking ten points from those matches to give themselves hope. So Hansi Flick won’t be counting his chickens quite yet.
Bayern pretty much wrapped up the title last week with their win at Borussia Dortmund. Not that they’re taking their foot off the gas quite yet. Just the one change to their starting XI, with Lucas Hernandez taking the place of Jerome Boateng, who drops to the bench.
Uwe Rösler - formerly of Manchester City and Southampton, and the last man to score at The Dell - makes big changes to his Fortuna team. Five of the XI named for the 2-1 midweek win over shambolic Schalke make way: Kaan Ayhan, Markus Suttner, Valon Berisha, Marcel Sobottka and Rouwen Hennings are replaced by Niko Giesselmann, Adam Bodzek, Alfredo Morales, Steven Skrzybski and Zanka.
The teams
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Pavard, Hernandez, Alaba, Davies, Kimmich, Goretzka, Gnabry, Muller, Coman, Lewandowski.
Subs: Ulreich, Odriozola, Martinez, Cuisance, Perisic, Boateng, Singh, Batista Meier, Zirkzee.
Fortuna Dusseldorf: Kastenmeier, Zanka, Hoffmann, Giesselmann, Zimmermann, Stoger, Bodzek, Morales, Thommy, Karaman, Skrzybski.
Subs: Rensing, Berisha, Ofori, Pledl, Hennings, Suttner, Sobottka, Bormuth, Zimmer.
Today’s Matchday 29 results so far.
- Freiburg 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
- Schalke 0-1 Werder Bremen
- Hertha Berlin 2-0 Augsburg
- Mainz 0-1 Hoffenheim
- Wolfsburg 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
On the whole, the 3.30pm kick-offs have been a mixed bag for Fortuna Dusseldorf, who are currently in the relegation play-off position on 27 points. Werder Bremen, a place below them, have closed the gap to two points with a win at hapless Schalke, David Wagner’s time there surely running out. But the two teams directly above Fortuna in the table, Mainz and Augsburg, both lost; they’re respectively one and four points better off, but have played a game more. Eintracht Frankfurt have pulled away from trouble with a fine win at Wolfsburg; they’re now five points ahead of Fortuna.
Preamble
Just so we know where we are ... this is first versus 16th, the equivalent of Liverpool v West Ham, Celtic v Ayr, PSG v Dijon, Barcelona v Eibar, Porto v Pacos de Ferreira, Trabzonspor v Caykur Rizespor, and Zenit St Petersburg v Akhmat Grozny. It’s on!
Kick off: 6.30pm at the home of the soon-to-be eight-in-a-row champions, 5.30pm UK time.
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