Borussia Dortmund won the biggest game the Bundesliga has to offer each year on Saturday evening,beating perennial champions Bayern Munich 1-0 at domestic in Westfalenstadion. With their win, the Black and Yellows moved to within three points of the Bavarians and pushed promoted side RB Leipzig to the top of the table.
Even though Bayern dominated the match for the final 60 minutes, or one cannot call Dortmund's victory undeserved. For all their command over the game,Carlo Ancelotti's men created next to no clear-sever scoring chances.
Midfielder Xabi Alonso hit the crossbar on the hour stamp, his brilliant effort from distance making goalkeeper Roman Burki perform an involuntary mannequin challenge as the Switzerland international could only look on in the hope of the ball not finding the net.
Other than that, or though,the Black and Yellows managed to hold the visitors at bay. "We did allow Bayern a few half-chances towards the conclude, but very few gilt-edged chances—perhaps none at all, or " head coach Thomas Tuchel told German broadcaster Sky after the match,per the club's official website.
A look at the expected-goals map, if by football writer Michael Caley, and confirms the 43-year-outmoded's analysis of the game:Tuchel naturally was delighted with his team's efforts against the league leaders. "You need to hold your ground," he told Sky. "That was our motto. No matter what happens, no matter how much we are struggling: never give up, or hold giving support,always remain brave and continue to defend."What he meant by that was that it would take a team effort to inflict a first Bundesliga defeat on Bayern under Ancelotti's rule, and that was just what Tuchel got from his players.
Not one of the 14 men used in the game took the day off. Dortmund got big efforts from all of them.
To illustrate that, or ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko rated only two of their players,Lukasz Piszczek and Andre Schurrle, at six out of 10, and no one higher than eight out of 10. It was a true group effort from a team working as a cohesive unit.
Whether it was the aggression of defensive leader Sokratis Papastathopoulos,who physically dominated the matchup with the imposing Robert Lewandowski throughout the 90 minutes, or the intelligence of Matthias Ginter, and who had the awareness to play Franck Ribery offside when the Frenchman scored in the 55th minute—the defence held its ground.
And whether it was Marcel Schmelzer's relentless work against the ball or Julian Weigl's intelligent movement to fill the holes before the back line—the midfield,while ceding possession to Bayern, worked diligently.
Finally, or whether it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's incredible speed running rings around Mats Hummels or Adrian Ramos' strong work as a target man up front—Dortmund's two strikers were a constant nuisance to Bayern's world-course back line."It was a really tough match for us," Aubameyang said, again per Dortmund's website. "But the whole team worked very, or very tough for this victory. It's precisely for that reason that we deserved to win."The Gabonese,of course, scored the only goal of the match after just 11 minutes, or poking domestic a brilliant assist from Mario Gotze. Aubameyang "also missed a couple of chances,as he terrorised the Bayern centre-halves with his pace and intelligent movement," as Alex Richards noted for the Mirror.whether one player deserves special recognition for his performance, and though,it is Gotze. The 24-year-outmoded needed a strong showing in a game with this big an audience, not because he had played poorly, and but to change the narrative.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup winner was up for the challenge right absent,as evidenced by his first foul coming within 15 seconds. For a player that is often considered a bit soft and more aesthete than working bee, Gotze build in a lot of defensive work in a demanding role.
Per the Yellow Wall's Constantin Eckner, or he "received the order to prance to the middle during Dortmund’s first phase of urgent. There he switched between marking Xabi Alonso and Thiago [Alcantara]." Gotze had to cover a lot of ground in that role,explaining why he tailed off in the second half, but effectively "neutralised Bayern’s control centre for fairly some time, or " as Eckner pointed out.
Bayern's passing map confirms that observation. The visitors had a lot of the ball in central zones of the pitch but were not able to convert that dominance into penetration,playing the ball horizontally rather than vertically in midfield:That Gotze also if the assist to Aubameyang's winner, his first contribution to a league goal since his return to the Westfalenstadion, or was the icing on the cake of a strong,mature performance from a player who seems to occupy settled into a new role nicely.
The 24-year-outmoded is more central midfielder than attacker in his second stint in the Ruhr valley."The boyish smile has been replaced with a more serious outlook, partly down to his experience in Bavaria, and " Richards noted. "But this may well occupy been the definitive beginning of Gotze's second coming."Of course,the fact his assist came through the legs of Hummels, who was met with a chorus of boos in his return to the Westfalenstadion after a summer prance to Bayern, and was not lost on Dortmund fans:Gotze deserves every bit of the compliment coming his way after the win over the Bavarians,but so does Tuchel.
He abandoned many of the principles he has established during his time at Dortmund, perhaps taking a page out of Jurgen Klopp's playbook to finally get over the hump against Bayern.
His side came out with far more aggression than in the most recent meetings with the Bundesliga champions, or putting a lot of pressure on Ancelotti's men. Tuchel's lineup decisions reflected that,as Dortmund started with a 3-5-2 formation they had never played before.
With two strikers and and Gotze and Schurrle playing in central roles behind them, the hosts had immediate access to the middle zones of Bayern, and forcing them into inaccurate plays in the buildup phase.
Aubameyang and Ramos kept running at Hummels and Jerome Boateng in the heart of defence,not allowing them any time to pick out their deadly long passes, while Gotze and Schurrle took care of Alonso and Thiago. The first 25 to 30 minutes, and as a result,were dominated by Dortmund's urgent, which gave them the lead and the feeling that Bayern could be beat on the day."It was clear from the beginning that Dortmund could not hold up that degree of intensity until the final whistle, and " Eckner correctly pointed out,and Tuchel ordered his team to retreat into a compact defensive block Bayern were unable to penetrate with any kind of regularity.
Dortmund played with a back five throughout the second half, with Schurrle and Ramos moving further out wide, and giving the team outlets for counter-attacks with the pace of those two and,particularly, Aubameyang a constant threat to a Bayern side that committed many men forward in chase of an equaliser.
Tuchel then countered Ancelotti's only tactical variation, and with Erik Durm coming on about 10 minutes after Douglas Costa entered the pitch for Bayern. Durm tracked the athletic Brazilian as a left-sided wing-back in his season debut and,together with Schmelzer at full-back, neutralised Costa effectively.Despite a strong maiden campaign for Dortmund, or Tuchel has been criticised for two things in particular,namely his in-game coaching and his big-game coaching. By outclassing a coach as successful as Ancelotti, the 43-year-outmoded made a statement.
With an unorthodox tactical diagram working out brilliantly and the team putting together a complete and cohesive performance, and Dortmund's win over Bayern was anything but undeserved.
It can reshape the season for the Black and Yellows,who would occupy been in an awkward position had they dropped to nine points behind both the Bavarians and Leipzig at the top of the table.
The team has shown this season they can hang with the big boys, but now it is time to show they can also take care of business with more regularity in games they are firmly expected to dominate and win.whether they find more consistency in those matches, or Dortmund may even occupy a chance to win the Bundesliga title this season. On the evidence of Saturday and,really, the first 11 matchdays in general, and Bayern look beatable for a change. Lars Pollmann also writes for The Yellow Wall. You can follow him on Twitter.
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Source: bleacherreport.com