Only two weeks since the German Bundesliga returned back to action during this critical time of the global pandemic – Coronavirus. Germany was the first among the top European countries to restart football and continuing the 2019-2020 season, without supporters in the stadiums. While there has been some footballing action happening in a few countries, Bundesliga’s return is a delight for almost all football lovers!
Match Day 28 and we have a classic encounter between two powerhouses of the Bundesliga – Borussia Dortmund hosting league leaders Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna-Park. Both teams have had a good run of form and started their return post lockdown with two convincing wins each.
Bayern Munich came into this match sitting top of the table with 61 points, 4 points ahead of Borussia Dortmund who were second on the table with 57 points. This was a must win game for Dortmund if they really wanted to keep the heat on Bayern for the league title. Dortmund kept the same starting 11 as their last game against Wolfsburg. Bayern replaced Ivan Perišić with Serge Gnabry, the latter missing their last outing with injury.
Dortmund started on the attack right from kick-off. Just 38 seconds on the clock and Thorgan Hazard found himself running between Bayern’s two centre backs with a perfectly timed pass from midfield. This drew out Manuel Neuer from the goal to clear the ball off the 18-yard box only to land in the feet of Erling Haaland – Dortmund’s goal scoring machine, whose shot on goal was cleared by Jerome Boateng just on the goal line.
Dortmund’s Julian Brandt had a shot at Bayern’s goal three minutes in, but Manuel Neuer dealt with it comfortably. There on it was all Borussia Dortmund, passing the ball around and most certainly looking threatening to score first with two shots on goal already. Bayern’s first chance at goal came in at about twelve minutes when Joshua Kimmich floated the ball towards Thomas Muller who was in the 18 yard box – only to mistime his jump and miss out on the opportunity to open the scoring for Bayern.
Midway in the first half, Bayern improved and starting enjoying a little more of the possession and started looking comfortable. Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman both had shots on goal, only to see one cleared of the line by the defender and the other punched away with two firm fist by the Dortmund keeper Roman Buerki. As the match progressed, out of nowhere just before the half-time in 43rd minute, Joshua Kimmich found the back of the net, with a superb chip shot over Dortmund’s keeper. This was the last thing Dortmund wanted, to be a goal down just before the break.
Dortmund started the second half making two changes, current teen sensation Jadon Sancho coming on for Julian Brandt and Emre Can for Thomas Delaney – two much need substitutions for Dortmund. Bayern set out with the same players who turned things around in the first half and stared the second half in control, passing the ball around and keeping possession.
Both teams kept creating chances in the second half, with Dortmund nearly equalizing on a few occasions. As Dortmund committed players ahead, Bayern held a strong back line, and had a few chances themselves to seal the game and extend their one goal advantage, Robert Lewandowski notably coming closest in the second half to score, hitting the post in the 80th minute.
At the end, Bayern Munich saw off Borussia Dortmund comfortably and extended their lead at the top of the table by 7 points. Dortmund Head Coach Lucien Favre will be disappointed having lost this game. With 4 games left and Bayern on good run of form, he might start to feel his chances of winning the Bundesliga are fading away.
That said, Bayern Munich’s manager Hansi Flick has his work cut out for him with few key players like Philippe Couthino and Thiago Alcantra out with injuries and a couple of big fixtures coming up. All it takes is two defeats to lose that 7 point lead they have, but will Borussia Dortmund bounce back? Stay tuned to ReadScoops.com for more updates on similar post-match updates from Bundesliga 2020!
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