Borussia Dortmund 1-5 Bayern: Five-Star Bayern Too Hot to Handle

After taking an early lead, Dortmund's tenacious defense collapsed under tremendous pressure from the Bavarian giants...

Sep 12, 2009 5:30:00 PM

More On :  Borussia Dortmund, FC Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund vs FC Bayern München
Signal Iduna Park Dortmund Borussia Fans (Bauer/Goal.com)

Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp was bullish ahead of today's match, claiming his side would attack the visitors. Not one to let down the press, Klopp indeed started with an aggressive 4-3-3 formation to mirror Bayern's similar setup.

Bayern coach Louis van Gaal made two changes to the side that recently beat Wolfsburg 3-0, substituting Edson Braafheid and Arjen Robben for Danijel Pranjic and Miroslav Klose respectively. Once again, Franck Ribery started the match on the bench.

Dortmund, bolstered by a capacity crowd of over 80,000, got off to a terrific start. Juergen Klopp's side used a tight three-man midfield line just in front of the back four, and greatly frustrated the visitors by using the wide forward positions in defence.

Inside ten minutes, Dortmund's counter-attacks forced Bayern 'keeper Hans-Joerg Butt to race out of the box on two occasions. In the latter case, Mohamed Zidan was able to round Butt but after some hesitation, his shot was blocked by the Bayern 'keeper.

A minute later, Dortmund had scored the all-important opener.  Following a free-kick from the right flank, Mats Hummels was left unmarked at the far post and didn't even have to jump to win a free header and nod it into the Dortmund goal. After the goal, Dortmund compressed their lines even further and were simply too well organised to beat. 

Only In the last ten minutes of the half did Bayern finally began to find space. In the 34th minute, Bayern earned their first shot, a free header from Mario Gomez that was saved easily by Roman Weidenfeller.  Then, just two minutes later, came a demoralising blow for the home side: Bayern's Bastian Schweinsteiger sent a superb free-kick into the penalty area, which Neven Subotic failed to clear. Gomez jumped forward and headed into an open net to level the score.

After Bayern's equaliser, the game opened up more but neither side was able to break down the opposing defence. After 45 hard-fought minutes, the two teams were no more separated than they were at the opening whistle.

After the break, Klopp kept to the same lineup but Van Gaal made two changes, as Gomez and Hamit Altintop made way for Thomas Mueller and Franck Ribery.

Just four minutes after the restart, Bayern silenced the home crowd with the go-ahead goal. Mueller played a ball over the top to Ribery, who crossed to Olic in space in front of goal. The Croatian hitman whiffed at the ball, but Arjen Robben recovered at the edge of the penalty area.  Robben turned and teed up Schweinsteiger from 22 yards and 'Schweini' drove low and hard to the left corner, beating Weidenfeller and earning the lead for his side.

In an attempt to inject life into his side, Klopp subbed strikers Zidan and Dimitar Rangelov for Kevin Grosskreutz and Lucas Barrios. 

Before Dortmund's fresh legs could make a difference, however, Bayern struck again. In the 65th minute, defender Holger Badstuber won a free kick near the spot where Schweinsteiger had struck a quarter hour earlier. Ribery stepped up and, with pinpoint accuracy, placed his free-kick into the top-right corner to double his team's advantage.

With time running out, Klopp rolled the dice again, bringing on Nelson Valdez for Kuba. The Paraguayan international almost had an immediate impact, but his 74th minute half-volley flashed wide of the post.

Mueller, who since his substitution had had a great game in midfield, deservedly added his name to the list of scorers after 78 minutes. Following a trademark cut inside from the right, Robben sent a low shot that Weidenfeller could only parry. After a cross, Schweinsteiger headed on goal that was also parried. Felipe Santana attempted to clear, but sent the ball straight to Mueller in the centre of the box. The 19-year-old controlled it well and finished coolly.

Bayern's young and versatile talent struck again three minutes from full time to complete his brace. Following a pass from Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Ivica Olic laid the ball off for Mueller, who sent a scorching shot into the upper left-hand corner.

The results of today's match leaves Dortmund in 13th place, while Bayern advance to fourth.

Clark Whitney, Goal.com
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