Is the title race still on or does it feel like job done for Bayern after they avoided defeat? Pep Guardiola looked furious at the end of the match, but will doubtless be delighted that his side bounced back from defeat against Mainz with an all-action display - to earn a priceless point. Guardiola insists his words with Kimmich were to ensure the youngster acknowledged his defensive handywork, after shutting out one of the best striker’s in Europe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Dortmund substitute, Adrian Ramos, could and should have won it for the hosts with his late header but Bayern were guilty of missing their crucial openings too. Arturo Vidal’s second-half effort ended up stroking the bar after Roman Burki managed to save his effort from point-blank range, while Douglas Costa squandered his opportunity, when put through one-on-one against Burki in the first-half. Here’s to a few goals next time. Thanks for reading! Bye!
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Pep Guardiola is giving a pep talk. It looks encouraging but he’s not exactly holding back. He ends up cuddling his defender, Joshua Kimmich, only after yelling instructions at the youngster’s face. Ah, ja!
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Full-time! Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Bayern Munich
So, the five-point gap still stands in the way of these two Bundesliga heavyweights!
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90 min: One minute of added time, nothing more. Dortmund send the ball down field with a direct ball.
89 min: Benatia replaces Alonso. Sahin comes on in place of Gundogan for Dortmund.
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88 min: Robben looks to keep hold of the ball near to the corner flag but he’s surrounded by yellow shirts. Dortmund clear while Alonso is down with cramp.
87 min: Aubameyang does brilliantly, he still looks interested. He drives down the right, crosses for the substitute Ramos but his header falls wide. Ramos was pretty much unmarked and he ought to have at least got his effort on target. Big chance, and perhaps the last.
86 min: Everybody’s looking pretty happy. Neither team exactly going for it in the last few minutes.
85 min: Mueller has a half-chance for Bayern. He dribbles around the edge of the box but his effort was always going away from goal.
83 min: Wasteful and Bayern gobble it up. The visitors look pretty content with a point now, a point that would nudge them onto 63 points.
82 min: Lewandowski tries to get on the end of a through ball and is upended by Pizszcek but no foul given. Dortmund go straight up the other end, corner it is.
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80 min: Ramos replaces Reus. That was easy to say, but Reus is not a happy chappy about it. Tuchel wants a win, but Dortmund need to go and get it.
78 min: Xabi Alonso has tried an audacious strike at goal, well, audacious for anybody else but him. He’s shot from just inside his own half but Burki is alert to it. Not quite like this one, sadly:
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76 min: It comes to nothing but it’s not long before Bayern are back on the attack. Ribery cuts in from the left, before Vidal fires aimlessly over.
75 min: Robben goes on a mazy run down the right hand side, links up with Mueller, who then gives it back. Bayern have a corner.
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Franck Ribéry is about to come on here. He started the defeat to Mainz in midweek. Douglas Costa is the man to come off. 74 minutes gone.
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72 min: Yep, big chance for Robben. Dortmund’s Weigl is guilty of losing possession, and Robben is presented with an opening inside the box. The ball moves across from left to right, invitingly for the Dutchman, who can only shoot over. Another chance goes missing.
Would Bayern be happy with a point? And would a draw be enough for Dortmund to keep the heat on Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich? Cue the opening goal ...
68 min: It’s bordering on silly that we still have not had a goal here in der Klassiker. Dortmund are sitting a little deeper, but that probably means we can expect a few more incisive counterattacks.
66 min: Hummels launches the ball forward, Reus heads on and Aubameyang strikes ... but it hits the bottom of the stanchion. Great, direct move from Dortmund. The game is heating up, with both teams going close in the last couple of minutes. But, still, no breakthrough ...
64 min: Vidal goes close! Robben whips in the corner, the ball drops to the midfielder, who smashes it at goal. Burki, who knew little about it, tips it on to the bar and manages to keep it out. This has been one of Vidal’s best displays in a Bayern shirt. He’s been a real nuisance.
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63 min: Robben weaves in from the right, crosses with his right foot to the back post but Durm does brilliantly to clear for a corner.
60 min: Neuer punches the ball miles to clear Dortmund’s free-kick from the right. Neither team really has a hold on the match as it is, and both sides have been guilty of losing possession cheaply in midfield.
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58 min: Alonso has a free-kick but it’s wasteful. Bayern build from the back, starting with Neuer. Robben is slid through but his effort is slightly too high and too wide.
55 min: Götze, who is warming up on the touchline, is ordered to move further away from the Yellow Wall after supposedly winding up the home supporters. He obliges.
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54 min: Robben has just had an extremely tame strike at goal. Comes to nothing, but then Muller finds Vidal who nods narrowly wide. The match is poised for a pulsating final 30 minutes here.
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Minutes after that big Dortmund chance, Stefan reckons Bayern’s Costa is not top of the class at finishing school. “Well Ben, Douglas Costa is neither Diego Costa nor a “Knipser”, as we call the more lethal strikers over her,” he says.
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51 min: Mkhitaryan has a big chance, running in-behind the Bayern defence but he cannot find the required finish.
50 min: Mkhitaryan looks for Gundogan but his ball across the pitch is wayward. A few huffs and puffs from Dortmund.
49 min: Gundogan nabs the ball away from Alonso and kickstarts Dortmund’s move. Schmelzer and Hummels then combine down the left before Mkhitaryan’s pass goes out for a goal kick.
47 min: Early stages of the second-half have started in the same way the first 45 minutes finished. Robben’s ascendency down the right flank has penned Dortmund in for a throw.
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We're off again!
The second-half is back underway. Neither side has made changes at the break. Can we expect more counterattacking initiative from each team?
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Devyani Ramamoorthy has a warning for the hosts, who as it stands, remain five points behind the Bundesliga leaders. “Dortmund better make the most of their initial incisiveness, because Bayern tend to rue missed chances less than any other other team,” she emails.
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Half-time: Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Bayern Munich
That’s the first 45 minutes over, and they’ve been pretty encapsulating, too. Marco Reus has been Dortmund’s best source of danger, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looks certain to score, if he can eventually lose the attentions of the impressive Joshua Kimmich. But it is Bayern who have squandered the best chance of the match so far. Douglas Costa fired more-or-less straight at Roman Bürki, when presented with a glorious opportunity, with no Dortmund defender in sight and just Roper the goalkeeper to beat. Your thoughts?
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44 min: Half-time whistle is approaching. Bayern probably finishing this first period the stronger of the two sides.
42 min: Schmelzer does brilliantly to cut the ball out and away from Müller. The ball falls to Robben, who whips his effort goalwards and is well saved by Bürki. Robben then gets another bite at it before the Dortmund keeper again clears.
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41 min: Alaba again is far from comfortable, who allows Neuer to sweep up. He manages to kick the ball clear, just before Aubameyang can run the ball down.
40 min: It comes to nothing and then Alaba is fortunate after failing to deal with the ball over the top. Bayern look to build again.
39 min: Durm concedes a corner for Dortmund, after Müller’s searching ball. He’s looking for Vidal once more, but it’s cleared away.
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38 min: Vidal is flagged offside (he’s actually onside) and manages to chest the ball down from Xabi Alonso’s scheduled flight XA451H.
36 min: Mkhitaryan does well again with some neat footwork around the box, but Kimmich intercepts superbly before Costa gets the ball going upfield. Bender then goes into the book for a foul on Lewandowski. We go again.
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35 min: Surprise, surprise, another counterattack. Bayern are wide open but Reus is called offside after Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang combine.
In dog news ... Sebastian Schund gets it straight: “Joshua Kimmich was born in Rottweil, Germany. Alaba was born in Vienna and never fails to amuse with his thick Viennese accent.” OK, so what about David Alaba I hear you ask? “Alaba was born in the town where Wiener dogs were invented,” chirps up Michael Gartner. Next?
Costa really should have opened the scoring, but instead his effort made for quite a routine stop in the end. Dortmund’s Yellow Wall roared to celebrate Bürki’s save.
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27 min: Bürki does brilliantly! Bayern go straight on the counter, Costa is played in by Robben, who goes through one-on-one with the Dortmund keeper but he fails to shoot with any conviction. Danger cleared. Both teams here look incredibly sharp on the counter.
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26 mins: Reus goes down under pressure from the Bayern defender Kimmich, who does superbly to avert any calls for a penalty.
Christopher Faherty has got in touch to have a moan about a bland Bayern defender. And who can blame him? “I cannot think of a more colourless footballer than Juan Bernat,” he says.
22 min: Weigl has just fouled Bernat and immediately asks for the Dortmund midfielder to go into the book. Bayern, you just feel, are getting a little wound-up here. Thomas Müller is growing increasingly frustrated.
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21 min: Alonso has just been booked for a nasty looking, studs-showing challenge on Weigl.
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Dortmund beginning to turn the screw here. That effort came just seconds after listening to Owen Hargreaves tell us that Dortmund defender Mats Hummels’ father picked him up from the airport when he signed for Bayern Munich. Well I never!
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20 min: Another big chance for Dortmund. Durm storms down the right hand side, twists Xabi Alonso inside out before letting fly, but his shot hits the side netting.
18 min: Well, Bayern go straight up the other end, Costa, again swings the ball in from the left and Vidal gets on the end of his centre but he’s unable to hook it goalwards as it falls off target. Dortmund perhaps guilty of not picking up their runners.
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17 min: Gundogan so very nearly releases Aubameyang with a through ball. Kimmich does superbly to snuff the ball out. Aubameyang, you would expect, might have some more joy sooner or later in that area behind the inexperienced Bayern defence.
15 min: Robben loses possession of the ball again, to Reus this time. But Dortmund’s counterattack this time breaks down. Both teams look extremely quick on the break.
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13 min: Lahm begins Bayern’s frenzy of keep ball, before Robben runs the ball out of play. Dortmund have it back. Guardiola barking instructions from the sideline.
Mkhitaryan looks in the mood here, Reus and Aubameyang ready to feed off his creativity. Lewandowski has just passed the ball straight into touch. Bayern not getting their own way just yet.
Dortmund attempting to take it up a gear or two. Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan linking well for that chance, which sent Neuer into action for the first time.
11 min: Neuer is forced to make a smart save. Dortmund counterattack through Mkhitaryan who unleashes a shot from the right flank.
10 min: Lewandowski has just charged into the Dortmund box but he’s been ushered out.
9 min: Bayern are getting a lot of joy from Costa on the left. Durm is playing right-midfield to try and help Pizsczek out in defence but to no avail so far.
7 min: Joshua Kimmich was born in the same Austrian town that gave birth to the Rottweiler dog. Fact.
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6 min: Goalkeeper Roman Bürki looks very nervous for Dortmund. Reus has just provided some spark for the hosts, again coming in from the left.
4 min: Dortmund pump a ball up to Aubameyang but Neuer sweeps it up. Müller switches the ball wide to Costa. He does brilliantly, crossing but Burki makes it a mess of it, pushing it to Müller who shoots over. The German should have done a lot better ...
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3 min: Dortmund have started the better here. They’re looking pretty comfortable in possession in these early sparing stages. Alonso has just fouled Gündogan.
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3 min: Bayern have a corner but Dortmund press immediately on the counterattack, with Marco Reus driving into the box. Bayern survive.
1 min: Bayern make little use of a throw-in from the left. Sven Bender pushes the ball away from danger for Dortmund. The Yellow Wall seems to be booing the ball away from Bayern players.
We're off!
Dortmund kick-off and der Klassiker is underway.
The huge, intimidating Yellow Wall has been built and kick-off imminent. It looks like one helluva atmosphere at the sell-out Signal Iduna Park, with about 81,359 fans packed into the stadium.
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John McEnerney has put Thomas Tuchel’s message into action (I’m not sure if it was done intentionally). “There’s no better place for Bayern to show their mettle than in Der Klassiker. Let’s see if Pep’s boys are up to it when the heat is on,” says John, via Twitter.
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👍😉 #bvbfcb pic.twitter.com/xv9JIlh6xL
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) March 5, 2016
Aubameyang is a cool customer. Five points separate Dortmund and Bayern, with kick-off just five minutes away.
Thomas Tuchel, much like his predecessor, is great value for a quote. He’s been drooling over his striker, Henrikh Mkhitaryan. “We have all as coaches had these players we fall in love with. He is a true champion.”
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يمكنكم متابعة جميع الأحداث باللغة العربية:@FCBayernAr pic.twitter.com/kjwX6THPLp
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) March 5, 2016
Mario Götze arrives back at the Signal Iduna Park ...
Bayern have made five changes from the 2-1 defeat to Mainz. Joshua Kimmich again deputises at the back for Bayern, with no Jérôme Boateng or Holger Badstuber. Dortmund, who will have Sven Bender alongside Mats Hummels in defence, are pretty much at full strength.
Ottmar Hitzfeld has been full of praise for Thomas Tuchel this week. “He is doing a very good job with the team. He’s improved them and made them more solid.” Tuchel himself has asked his team to show “plenty of mettle” ...
300 - @philipplahm will make his 300th appearance in Bundesliga for @FCBayernEN. Captain. #BVBFCB pic.twitter.com/sgHB5CcqSe
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) March 5, 2016
Big occasion for Philipp Lahm ...
Lewandowski speaking ahead of the match: “It’s a really important game for Dortmund and for us. The atmosphere in Dortmund is always fantastic, I played there for four years and the atmosphere in the stadium is always very good.”
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The teams!
Borussia Dortmund: Bürki, Hummels, Bender, Schmelzer, Durm, Piszczek, Weigl, Gündogan, Mkhitaryan, Reus, Aubameyang
Subs: Weidenfeller, Subotic, Leitner, Sahin, Ramos, Castro, Ginter
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Lahm, Kimmich, Alaba, Bernat, Robben, Alonso, Costa, Vidal, Müller, Lewandowski
Subs: Benatia, Thiago, Ribéry, Rafinha, Götze, Rode
Preamble
Hello! So, from north London to north Rhine-Westfalen, where Borussia Dortmund host Bayern Munich in none other than der Klassiker. The last time these two met back in October, Bayern, inspired by the man Dortmund supporters themselves termed “The Body” led a merry dance, winning 5-1 as Pep Guardiola’s side notched their eighth successive win on the bounce. That match in Bavaria left a seven-point gap between the two sides. Today the gap has narrowed ever so slightly to five points but Dortmund smell blood, or vulnerability at least. Guardiola is slowly bowing out, with the not so bright lights of Manchester’s Deansgate Locks on the horizon come the summer. Whether Guardiola is to bow out in style is another thing, though. His side wobbled in Turin, throwing away a two-goal lead against Juventus in the Champions League and fell to their second defeat of the campaign against Mainz in midweek. That surprise 2-1 defeat ended a very healthy run of 17 consecutive home victories. Arjen Robben did score, though, and he has a pretty nifty record against Dortmund, too (nine goals in all competitions). The Bayern chief executive, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, has hardly quashed the importance of this match-up either. “We certainly mustn’t lose on Saturday,” he bellowed. And if second can beat first at the Signal Iduna Park here, then Thomas Tuchel’s Dortmund will be sure not to give Guardiola an easy, first-class ride out of Germany.
The game itself poses a beautiful sub-plot of its own. Goalscorer v goalscorer. Talisman v talisman. Robert Lewandowski v Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The two strikers (39 letters in total) have plundered 45 league goals between them this season and Lewandowski has Gerd Müller’s 1971 record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season in his sights.
Enjoy!
Coming soon... #BVBFCB pic.twitter.com/6VJOh3NLhV
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) March 3, 2016
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The game itself poses a beautiful sub-plot of its own. Goalscorer v goalscorer. Talisman v talisman. Robert Lewandowski v Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The two strikers (39 letters in total) have plundered 45 league goals between them this season and Lewandowski has Gerd Müller’s 1971 record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season in his sights.
Enjoy!
