With Germany boss Jürgen Klopp in attendance, the top teams in the Bundesliga battled it out to a 2-2 draw. Bayern Munich blew the lead twice as Dortmund’s home crowd rallied their team to play with higher energy and intensity for most of the match. Konrad Laimer and Dayot Upamecano were the unlikely scoring heroes for Bayern, while Serhou Guirassy and Fábio Silva saved Dortmund.
Jersey Swap: Die Verletzungswelle
By the halftime whistle, Ismael Saibari was helped off the pitch with a squashed ankle, Serge Gnabry limped off with a non-contact
muscle injury, and Jonas Urbig’s face was bleeding Bayern red (literally!). To make matters worse, Michael Olise asked to be substituted late in the second half. With key players like Luis Díaz, Jamal Musiala, and Manuel Neuer still recovering from various injuries, Bayern cannot afford to lose any more players to the injury bug.
Unsurprisingly, Niko Kovač’s tactics featured a brutish mindset on defense paired with a flopping approach on offense. Dortmund’s lack of counterattacking speed forced the match to be played in smaller spaces, making it difficult for either team to maintain possession or establish any kind of rhythm. Subsequently, Gregor Kobel’s stat sheet was the primary benefactor of the match, but even he had to be bailed out by his own woodwork to stop Harry Kane, Michael Olise, and Lennart Karl.
Der Kaiser: No one
For most of the match, it was not a particularly poor performance from Bayern’s defense. But in the crucial moments, there were mental and physical breakdowns that ruined Bayern’s chance at claiming three points and sitting alone at the top of the table.
Konrad Laimer and Dayot Upamecano were the best of the bunch, but their offensive contributions were more important. Kim Min-jae was erratic, Alphonso Davies started strong but was a non-factor on the back end, and Josip Stanišić added another middling performance to his season.
Fußballgott: Joshua Kimmich
Playing in his first game since the unexpected passing of his father, team captain Joshua Kimmich delivered an emotional performance. After the Dortmund goal that drew the match level, Kimmich focused his team’s energy and sent the key pass to an unmarked Harry Kane who calmly headed the ball back across the face of the goal to a surging Dayot Upamecano for the key moment.
Der Bomber: Konrad Laimer
For unknown reasons, Konrad Laimer was the only Bayern player who consistently put himself in dangerous attacking positions. In the 38th minute, he snuck behind the Dortmund backline for a free run straight toward goal. Kobel blocked the initial attempt but Laimer calmly recovered his own rebound and gave Bayern the lead.
On numerous occasions, Laimer found a nice pocket tucked between Daniel Svensson and Nico Schlotterbeck. Michael Olise’s elite vision manipulated the Dortmund midfield to get Laimer the ball, but Laimer was unable to finish those specific opportunities.
Meister of the Match: Dayot Upamecano
In his sixth season with the club, Dayot Upamecano has only scored 10 goals at Bayern. However, two of those goals have been go-ahead goals at Signal Iduna Park. He added four clearances, three interceptions, and two recoveries while distributing the ball with 91% accuracy. Without Jonathan Tah to anchor the backline, Upamecano’s fiery attitude stood out for the full 90 minutes.
On Dortmund’s first goal, Upamecano got dragged wide, but still almost recovered to prevent the near post shot from Guirassy. On Dortmund’s second goal, he was marking on the far side of the play. Upamecano’s center-back partner, Kim Min-jae, had more defensive contributions (13) but was caught out of position and was a step behind on both goals.
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