Summary
Not a classic contest but entertaining enough. Bayern had lots of possession but struggled to break down a deep, resolute defence who played very well. When called upon Sommer made some good saves and the woodwork kept Alaba at bay, but Gladbach had some good chances of their own on the break – Lucien Favre’s side showed how it can be done against the champions. There is hope for the future of the Bundesliga! It is possible, Bayern can be beaten! But they probably won’t be.
Bye!
Neuer has had to make 4 saves against Gladbach today, more than the rest of the season combined. Shows you how good Gladbach are.
— Cristian Nyari (@Cnyari) October 26, 2014
Updated
Full-time: Gladbach 0-0 Bayern
Xhaka limps off again and Gladbach end the game defending rather desperately, but they cling on to their unbeaten record. Felix Zwayer blows up and the points are shared.
90+2 mins: Pizarro lumbers on to a loose ball in the area, this to win the game ... but his shot is blocked by the out-rushing Sommer! Great chance, and that may well be that.
90+1 mins: Xhaka picks up an ankle injury and that’s bad timing for Gladbach with the third substitution made. Bayern press on in search of a winner as he hobbles back onto the field.
90 mins: Thorgen Hazard, brother of Eden on loan from Chelsea, comes on for Raffael. Hazard was fantastic in the Europa League this week, but he only has a couple of added minutes to make an impact here. Gladbach’s final change.
89 mins: Close! Benat lashes a shot from just inside the box and it is deflected narrowly wide. Shaqiri’s corner is punched away by Sommer and Alaba’s cross is then well cleared by Wendt in the left-back position, with Pizarro bearing down on him.
87 mins: Raffael wins the ball on the edge of Bayern’s with a bit of tenacity and passes to Ibrahima Traore running to his right, but he is eased off the ball and it’s a goal-kick.
85 mins: Beautiful pass from Ribery down the line into the bursting run of Lahm whose low cross is hacked away. Gladbach try to break through substitute Traore but his pass to Kruse isn’t hard enough and Bayern come forward again.
83 mins: Another Alonso corner. Another one cleared away. One thing I have deduced tonight is that Bayern are rubbish at corners. Pizarro has a half-chance in the box but by the time he controls the ball he is faced with three Gladbach defenders. Shaqiri replaces Gotze, Guardiola’s final roll of the dice.
Owen Hargreaves panned Gladbach’s substitutions a moment ago. I hope one of them now scores.
79 mins: Ribery crosses from the right. It’s low and it’s bad. He gets another attempt but pulls this one back to Lahm who is swiftly tackled. Gladbach are in hold-the-fort mode. Traore and Johnson come on. Hermann and Hahn make way.
BREAKING: Xabi Alonso misplaces pass for Bayern Munich. Pass accuracy down to 97%. Poor. #FCB pic.twitter.com/AbOwaylzT7
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 26, 2014
77 mins: Captain Stranzl lunges in and doesn’t get the ball from Gotze in the box but the referee turns away the penalty appeals. At the other end Raffael lashes a low shot on target which Neuer parries away once more.
Gladbach are ruining Bayern ruining the league.
— FJK (@Tagave) October 26, 2014
75 mins: Xabi Alonso’s radar goes haywire and he hacks the ball off the park. It’s a back four now with Lahm at right-back.
73 mins: Ribery is playing on the right but hasn’t made an impression on the match as yet. Gladback work down the right and Raffael pulls a cross deep to Kruse on the edge of the area whose shot is blocked. Pizarro replaces Muller for Bayern.
Updated
70 mins: Owen Hargreaves is dishing out some tactical tips about to ‘the world of football managers’. Unclear if he means the professionals or frequenters of the popular computer game series. I suppose it’s both.
68 mins: Benat crosses excellently with bend and menace but Sommer comes out well to punch the danger away. Bundesliga’s two form goalkeepers have been very good.
66 mins: Ribery comes on for Rafinha. Let’s see how this changes Bayern’s shape. Meanwhile Neuer makes a very good reaction save, not his first of the game, after an inswinging cross evades everyone and heads for the back post.
“Hey Lawrence,” emails Aaron von Fintel. “I’d just like be extra pedantic here and point out that if you insist on being linguistically correct and all then it’s FC Bayern München, oder Muenchen for the umlaut impaired. Please clear this up, thanks. Best, Aaron in Munich/München/Muenchen.” I think I’ll stick to Bayern from here on in.
65 mins: I should say that Rafinha was not penalised for his theatrics. Gladbach break forward and win a corner. It’s swung into Dominguez who gets up well and fires a flat header just over Neuer’s bar.
64 mins: Dive! Big dive! Rafinha throws himself to the floor under minimal contact, then realises and jumps to his feet, embarrassed. Guardiola is giving some animated instructions to Ribery on the touchline. Alonso throws in another corner which comes to nothing, again.
62 mins: Bayern push Gladbach back into their own box. Lahm passes across the edge of the area to Gotze who helps it into Benat’s path but he shoots into the side-netting.
60 mins: Moments later Gladbach toss the ball into the box, it’s cleared feebly to Hahn who hits an off-balance, side-footed volley high and wide. A bit of waste.
59 mins: Kramer wins the ball brilliantly in midfield and immediately passes to the right-wing. Kruse crosses quickly to Hermann attacking the back post whose flicked shot is pawed away for a corner by Neuer. Nothing comes of it.
57 mins: It’s all Bayern/Bavaria Munich/Munchen at the moment. Free-kick on the left-hand corner of the penalty box. Alonso curls an inswinger into Lewandowski’s path but Sommer comes off his line and punches clear.
54 mins: Alonso fires a ball into Gotze’s feet. Bayern work it wide to Alaba but his cross is blocked off. The home side are reverting to the deep set on the edge of their own box. Eventually Bayern slide the ball through to Lewandowski who shoots straight at Sommer from a tight angle.
52 mins: Another lethal counterattack without a goal. Gladbach drive through the middle, three v three, and shift it right to Hahn whose powerful low shot is blocked by Neuer and the rebound scrambled clear.
51 mins: Owen Hargreaves delivers a long seminar on BT Sport about why Philipp Lahm should play right back, and then drops in that they are best mates.
49 mins: Rafinha skips around Wendt, who is now treading on eggshells having been booked, and crosses to the edge of the box where Alaba’s volley is blocked. Another corner, another poor set-piece delivery from the man I’ve just been praising, Xabi Alonso.
47 mins: Gladbach have started by pressing higher up the pitch than they did in the first half, perhaps an instruction from Favre at half-time. Wendt stomps on Lewandowski’s foot and is booked. Meanwhile, Ribery is starting to warm-up.
Second half kick-off
Peep! Here we go.
Back to the football, and Gladbach have looked threatening on the break. They may go on to regret that missed one-on-one by Max Kruse.
Xabi Alonso has been excellent in controlling the game and you can see exactly why Guadiola bought him and sold Kroos: Alonso brings a longer range of passing that means Bayern can quickly switch play with a piercing 40 yard pass. Kross is excellent, of course, but Alonso adds a new weapon to help unlock defences that Pep didn’t have last season.
There seems to be a flaw, though, in that Pep’s wide players (Bernat and Rafinha) are more wingbacks than wingers, so they are never getting in behind Gladbach’s defence when the receive Alonso’s switch. It will be interesting to see if Guadiola adjusts things in the second half. Ribery and Shaqiri are both on the bench.
“Of course I meant language,” Felix Wood clears up. “Language in general. Not German, obviously, we’d never have come up with something that sounds so guttural. I’m pretty sure that language came from England, and until we shared it people struggled, frankly. It’s why the Egyptians had to speak to each other using pictures.” That’s pretty punchy, I didn’t expect emotions to be running so high on a Sunday evening MBM.
“Can you please inform Mr Felix Wood, that I am English born and bred, albeit competent in speaking German, and that I just find the Hybrid a bit odd,” Carl Foulkes replies. “Just as I find the German usage of ‘Arsenal London’ a bit odd. For clarification: Borussia is the Latinate spelling of the German Preussen, which in English is Prussia. Just like how the German Bayern, is Bavaria in English. And how the German Munchen, is Munich in English.”
Half-time: Gladbach: 0-0 Bayern
Peep! And that’s the half. The two best defences in the league are doing their jobs. All square.
44 mins: Some whistling from the home crowd as Mr Zwayer fails to book Rafinha for a feisty challenge.
“Hi Lawrence,” emails John Mc Enerney. “I’m sure when T Kroos left BM fans were left scratching their heads he’s a smashing player & he showed it last night in The Classico but IMO Xavi is a better player, we saw Mou use him in the wrong way for his style of play, mind you he was effective in that deep role but now Pep has given him similar to his old LFC role where he was magnificent. The top 3 signings of the summer Cesc, XA & TKroos”
42 mins: Lovely quick counterattack from Gladbach but the final ball to Hahn at the back post is over-hit.
40 mins: Oooooo. That was close. Just as Owen Hargreaves was starting to say how irrelevant Lewandowski has been to the game, the Polish striker cuts inside and his deflected shot bobbles agonisingly wide as a stranded Sommer can only watch.
37 mins: The game’s gone a little quiet, Bayern passing lots but struggling to make any sort of telling one.
Re our language debate: “The expression ‘Bayern’ or ‘Borussia’ function like proper names,” explains Malte Dahlgrün. “One doesn’t translate them – just as one leaves ‘Atletico’ or ‘Athletic’ in their original forms, or says ‘Newell’s Old Boys’ in Spanish. Nobody says ‘Royal Madrid’ either. As for the ‘Munich’ bit, just do as you please! If languages have their own variants for location names, go ahead and use them. Jesus.”
Things are getting unexpectedly heated.
34 mins: Gladbach should be ahead! A smooth passing move ends in another Bayern corner, but it’s a poor delivery again and Gladbach break quickly. A high throughball bounces perfectly into Max Kruse’s path in the box but he can’t beat Neuer, who rushes out and spreads himself to make the block. Great chance.
31 mins: Gladbach come forwards down the left but Benatia defends really well and puts the ball out for a throw. Bayern then press the home side all the way back to Sommer in goal.
29 mins: Korb puts Gladbach in trouble with an ambitious dribble across his own box. Alaba nicks the ball and quickly crosses for Lewandowski who can’t quite bring it under his spell.
27 mins: Alonso nails a long crossfield ball yet again. It’s stunning. The cross from the right is cleared for a corner, which Alonso takes, but it’s easily cleared by Kramer to Neuer who is virtually on the halfway line, the maverick.
25 mins: Gotze, Lahm and Rafinha work some triangles on the right-hand side in an effort to unpick the lock. Lahm’s pass into the box finds Alaba whose shot is blocked.
23 mins: Owen Hargreaves is the co-commentator on BT Sport tonight. I’m enjoying his accent. Alaba’s crack from range onto the edge of bar and post is the closest we’ve come to a goal, or a moment of excitement so far. The Gladbach fans behind their own goal in fine voice tonight, at the moment committing to a mass topless bounce. Not a lot happening on the pitch, though.
20 mins: Neuer does his thing sweeping up 30 yards out from goal, and then again right on the edge of the box. A bit more encouraging from the side third in the Bundesliga.
17 mins: Bernat’s low bouncing cross is attacked by Thomas Muller in his inimitable style but Stranzl clears for a corner ... which comes to not a lot.
“The English media persist with calling the team Bayern Munich because they want to,” says Felix Wood. “And because even if the locals don’t like it it’s correct. We invented language and we won’t be told what words to use by foreigners. Whatever next, tips on manners? The mind boggles.”
Did you mean we invented the language, Felix? Beacuse ‘we invented language’ is a separate and very bold claim.
15 mins: Just a ten-second snippet of why Guardiola brought in Xabi Alonso. He plays a one-touch one-two immediately from a high goalkeeper’s kick and under pressure, then sweeps the ball 40 yards to Rafinha on the right-hand side. Beautiful to watch.
12 mins: Since Alaba hit woodwork Gladbach have been camped on the edge of their box, happy to allow Bayern to spread the play wide but leaving very few gaps through the centre of the pitch. Bayern have a throw by the right corner flag and Muller’s subsequent cross is headed clear.
Updated
9 mins: Almost a special goal. After some slow buildup Alaba nudges it out of feet wide on the right and lashes across Sommer and onto the upright, the ball flying away to the right for Gladbach to clear.
“Why do the english media persist with the oddly incorrect usage of the De-nglish (Deutsch-English) hybrid of Bayern Munich,” emails Carl Foulkes, “as opposed to the correct English of Bavaria Munich, or the equally correct German of Bayern Munchen? If the same rule was followed then the home team would be Prussia Moenchengladbach? Confused?”
6 mins: Gladbach attack! Bernat stops Kruse with a barge and Bayern quickly counter as if punishing their opponents for the audacity to come forwards. The break culminates in Muller flashing a shot wide from the right.
4 mins: As expected Bayern have taken control of these initial stages and Gladbach are adopting a very deep line: defend the box stuff. Alaba switches play to Rafinha standing on the right touchline but his through-ball is intercepted.
2 mins: The first chance of the match falls to Lewandowski, rising to reach a cross from the right but heading high over the bar from the penalty spot.
Kick-off
Peep! Zwayer blows his whistle and we are off. For only the second time this season it’s a sell-out at the 54,000 capacity Borussia-Park.
Coin toss: I’ve no idea who won it. The referee has a brilliant name, Felix Zwayer, and looks like a sort-of less chiseled Manuel Neuer.
Goalkeeper stat of the day: Bundesliga’s best two keepers go head-to-head tonight. Sommer has saved 88.6% of shots on target compared to Neuer’s 86.7% ... though Neuer hasn’t conceded in the league in 568 minutes, or since August. It’s nearly November. That’s silly.
Christoph Kramer has recovered from a stomach bug to start tonight, and his tireless work ethic is a welcome boost to Gladbach. He was also the man who unfortunately suffered concussion during the World Cup final and forgot most of the match, an incident of which some of his opponents today had this to say:
“He called me ‘Gerd’ and congratulated me on the ’74 final” – Thomas Muller.
“He was fine until I saw him acting strange. Then he came to me and said ‘Manu, let me play as the goalkeeper’” – Manuel Neuer.
“I wasn’t worried at first, he played normally. But things started when he came to me and said he wanted to take the captain’s band from my arm. I thought ‘what’s going on here’. When he wanted to trade shirts with the ref I thought ‘it’s enough now’” – Philipp Lahm.
Gladbach lineup in a 4-2-3-1, though I’d wager it will look more like a 4-4-1-1 for the most part tonight. Max Kruse will carry the goal threat and has started the season well with five Bundesliga goals, including two last weekend against Hannover.
Corrected: Gladbach lineup illustrated pic.twitter.com/0vyil00mZO
— FC Bayern Central (@fcbayerncentral) October 26, 2014
It looks like Bayern will lineup in a 3-4-3 today, though Alaba can slot into midfield if Pep decides he doesn’t like it anymore.
StartXI for @FCBayernEN against Gladbach. Pack Ma's! #BMGFCB pic.twitter.com/rmLKZ8RAcP
— DC Bayern Capitol 11 (@DCBayern11) October 26, 2014
The lineups
Bayern: Neuer, Rafinha, Dante, Benatia, Bernat, Alonso, Lahm (c), Alaba, Müller, Gotze, Lewandowski. Subs: Zingerle, Ribery, Shaqiri, Pizarro, Boateng, Rode, Hojbjerg.
Gladbach: Sommer, Korb, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt, Kramer, Xhaka, Herrmann, Hahn, Raffael, Kruse. Subs: Heimeroth, Schulz, Nordtveit, Traore, Hazard, Hahn, Raffael.
Referee: Felix Zwayer.
Updated
Bayern Munich’s last three results: Roma 1-7 Bayern, Bayern 6-0 Werder Bremen, Bayern 4-0 Hannover. There have been some tasty goals in amongst all of that winning – here’s a couple to enjoy:
At what point during the 5-0 mauling of Apollon Limassol on Thursday night did Lucien Favre’s mind wander elsewhere? “The win was important,” Gladbach’s head coach said immediately afterwards. “But our full concentration now lies on Bayern Munich.”
It is first against third and, since Dortmund and Schalke have preferred to embark upon a relegation scrap, Gladbach are viewed by many within Germany as the last hope of preventing Bayern from winning the title. This game has been hyped up, Gladbach adorned as the unlikely standard-bearers of all those lobbying for competition over monopoly.
And their timing couldn’t be better, right? Gladbach are unbeaten in 14 matches including all eight Bundesiga games this season, and after thrashing Apollon Favre announced with relish that he has that rare thing of a full squad to choose from.
Except that Bayern are awesome. Not awesome as in super-great! or sweet as! but in the literal sense: inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration or fear. They are awesome and as if to underline the point, Gladbach sporting director Max Eberl said matter-of-factly this week: “we can’t forget, Bayern are the best team in the world.” Pep Guardiola is building Barcelona II, his latest plaything, and he has all the biggest and best toys to do it with. But are we about to see an act of defiance?* Gladbach v Bayern is coming up!
Kick-off: 16.30 GMT
*Probably not.
Updated
Good afternoon. Lawrence will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a rather cool-looking Rafael Honigstein with a video preview of today’s game:
If you enjoy that sort of thing, there’s so much more on the Guardian Football YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, here’s Rafa’s weekly Bundesliga blog:
“Happiness guaranteed,” it says in the Bundesliga’s official English-language magazine. “For 24 years in a row, the Bundesliga has seen more goals than any other major league”. That’s a remarkable stat, no doubt, but can we be so sure about the emotional inference? Scoring goals is a zero-sum activity, if you think about it: one supporter’s happiness is another one’s hurt, guaranteed. All these goals and the often random assignment of points that go with them could just as easily be described as a misery machine.
The Bundesliga puts fans through the grinder and the very fact that it affords lesser sides the chance to entertain dreams of European football – you can’t win three games in a row without going close to a Champions League spot, as things stand – and regularly drags supposedly big names into the relegation zone adds another layer of cruelty. Twelve or 13 out of the 18 sides will end their campaign ruing missed chances and thwarted ambitions.
Everybody hurts, sometimes, but the discomfort is most keenly felt at Borussia Dortmund at the moment. The kingdom that Jürgen Klopp built has been reduced to a house of pain in the wake of five defeats in eight games this season. The BVB coach had thought that the lowest point had been reached with the 1-0 home defeat to Hamburger before the international break but things got worse on Saturday.
Dortmund didn’t play badly for large spells of their visit to Cologne but some defending of the indefensible kind allowed Kevin Vogt and then Simon Zoller to ramp up the pressure. (Ciro Immobile had scored the 1-1 equaliser). “We can call it a crisis,” said the sporting director Michael Zorc, “it’s the most difficult situation in recent years.” More worryingly still was Klopp’s assessment that Dortmund’s football had stopped making sense altogether. “I don’t have any clever comments at the moment,” he shrugged.
