Halloween lived up to its frightful reputation, putting Bayern Munich in a scary position after suffering a horde of injuries in a Klassiker that will not soon be forgotten.
Here are the biggest takeaways from a frustrating draw at the Allianz Arena.
A tale of two philosophies
What happens when sword meets shield? What happens when fluidity encounters structure? What happens when the Bundesliga’s best attack runs into the best defense? Well, they share the points and break each other in the process.
Bayern broke Dortmund’s steel
armor. Niko Kovač’s side largely kept Aaron Danks’s men at bay for the first twenty minutes. But after repeated prods and pokes from the Bavarian side, Die Schwarzgelben would eventually reveal the chink in their shell: themselves.
In the 38th minute, Felix Nmecha’s under-hit pass to Daniel Svensson, who suffered an unfortunate slip, was stolen by an opportunistic Konrad Laimer. The Austrian international finished the sequence by firing the ball into an empty net after his initial shot was saved by Gregor Kobel.
Bayern had the opportunity to go two goals ahead early in the second half, but encountered Dortmund’s best defender and the secret to their iron-clad defense: the goal frame.
The woodwork already denied Michael Olise a goal early in the first half, blocking the Frenchman’s finessed shot, and it wasn’t done spoiling the Bavarians’ evening either. Harry Kane would go on to miss his second-half penalty after smashing the crossbar, and he hit the upright later in the game as well, while Lennart Karl’s late-game strike dinked the crossbar.
Realistically, Bayern should have won that game. After all, Die Rekordmeister produced 4.18 xG compared to Dortmund’s 0.63 xG. However, football isn’t played on could-haves, should-haves, and would-haves. So, credit to Kovač and his resilient Dortmund side.
The injury gods demons strike again
Halloween spawns all sorts of frightening creatures: vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and ghosts. But the injury demons haunted Bayern tonight.
The haunting began in the 24th minute when Ismael Saibari suffered a serious injury. The Moroccan international’s shot on goal was saved after finding himself one-on-one with Kobel. Saibari continued to chase the ball, but the Swiss goalkeeper pounced, clattering into Saibari’s leg—a coming-together eerily similar to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s leg-snapping challenge on Jamal Musiala in the Club World Cup.
Just six minutes later, Serge Gnabry pulled up and dropped to the floor, unable to continue. It didn’t stop there.
The injury demons claimed Michael Olise next. The Frenchman hobbled off the pitch in the dying embers of the game—a rotten cherry on top of an already sour evening for Bayern.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown
Harry Kane endured a miserable debut as the world’s best footballer.
The Englishman missed a penalty, missed a (mostly) open goal, and simply could not do the thing that earned him the Ballon d’Or: score.
Kane’s quality, character, and leadership abilities are undeniable, but even a player with his mentality can get crushed under the overwhelming pressure of living up to the title of the world’s best.
Lennart Karl in the doghouse?
Lennart Karl produced a positive display in Bayern’s 6-1 DFB-Pokal victory against FC Magdeburg, despite struggling for form the entire season. Many believed the 18-year-old turned a significant corner, marking a much-needed fresh start. But Bayern’s coaching staff still isn’t convinced.
After Saibari’s 24th-minute injury, Karl seemed to be the natural replacement in the attacking midfield position. Instead, Aaron Danks favored Nathaniel Brown. Moments later, Gnabry — who was deployed on the left wing — suffered his injury. Shifting Alphonso Davies to the left wing, dropping Brown to left-back, and bringing Karl on for Gnabry would have been the logical decision. Again, Danks decided against Karl, choosing to substitute Josip Stanišić in instead.
Karl would eventually make his way onto the pitch, coming on for Olise in the 84th minute and even hitting the crossbar late in the game. But his previous snubs in key moments do not paint a good picture for the young attacker.
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