It is literally a humiliating loss. Bayern Munich’s defense was shaky, allowing Borussia Dortmund two goals.
Munich lost to Dortmund for the first time in 13 games.
Munich, led by Thomas Tuchel, lost 0-2 to Karim Adeyemi and Julian Ruersson in the 27th round of the German Bundesliga in the 2023-24 season against Dortmund at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the 31st (Korea time).
Munich, which failed to win points, remained in second place, but failed to close the gap with Bayer Leverkusen (73 points). In addition, Stuttgart (56 points) has not played 27 rounds yet, so if Stuttgart wins the next game, it will allow it to chase by one point.
Not only did it move further away from the Bundesliga championship competition, but it also put the second place in jeopardy.
It was highly likely that Munich would not be able to play against Dortmund due to injury caused by its main goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Aleksandar Pavlovic, who has been in good form this season. While Pavlovic’s vacancy could be filled by other players including Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, Neuer’s absence was expected to be significant. In the end, Neuer and Pavlovic failed to play against Dortmund.
I had to be glad that Harry Kane was able to play. Kane, who suffered an ankle injury before the A-match break, was called up early from the national team. Initially, it was unclear whether he would play against Dortmund, but he showed tremendous resilience and increased his chances of playing.
Ahead of the match, Germany’s top soccer magazine Kicker said, “Munich needs Kane to maintain at least its chances of winning the league title for 12 consecutive years. In that sense, coach Thomas Tuchel can breathe a sigh of relief. Kane trained individually on Monday and Tuesday before joining the team’s training.”
The home team Munich fought 4-2-3-1. Harry Kane led the attack at the front line, while Jamal Musiala, Thomas Muller, and Leroy Sane supported Kane at the second line. The waist was supported by Leon Goretzka and Konrad Reimer. Alfonso Davis, Eric Dier, Matheis D’Richt, and Joshua Kimmich made up the defense. Sven Ulaihi kept the goal.
Dortmund, the away team, faced off with a 4-3-3 typical. Niklas Fülkruk stood on the front line, and Adeyemi and Jadon Sancho were placed on the side. Julian Brandt, Emre Jan, and Felix Nmecca were responsible for the midfield. Ian Matsen, Nico Schlotterbeck, Mats Hummels and Rüersson stood on defense. The goalkeeper’s gloves were worn by Alexander Mayer.
◆ Munich lost a point in 10 minutes in the first half… a shaky defense
The first to intimidate was Munich. After receiving Goretzka’s pass in the fourth minute, Sane set his sights on Dortmund with a left footed shot in the box. However, Sane’s shot was blocked by the defense. Munich then scored the first goal again in the seventh minute with Kane’s shot following Kimich’s cross, but Dortmund’s defenders threw their bodies again to block the shot.
Dortmund’s counterattack was sharp. Dortmund, which allowed two menacing shots early in the first half, started counterattack and scored the first goal 10 minutes into the first half. Dortmund’s quick counterattack worked.
Adeyemi, who received a pass from Brandt in the 10th minute of the first half, shook the Munich net with a sophisticated left-footed shot. Dortmund continued its momentum and Hummels, who received Sancho’s pass in the 18th minute of the first half, attempted a right-footed shot, but this time it was out.
Munich, which had given up the first goal early in the first half, made a quick reorganization and sought an equalizer. In the 19th minute of the first half, Mussiala passed to Reimer, who aimed a bold mid-range shot from outside the penalty box. However, Reimer’s mid-range shot was out of reach.
Similar to the 7th minute of the first half, Kane’s header of Kimmich’s cross also did not lead to a score.
The game intensified. Dortmund aimed for an additional goal through Fülkruk’s mid-range shot in the 26th minute of the first half. However, Fülkruk’s shot was blocked by Ulrich. After overcoming the crisis, Munich re-attacked the attack. Kane scored with his right foot through Kimich’s cross again in the 28th minute of the first half, but failed to score again.
In the 30th minute of the first half, Hummels sent a pass to Adeyemi, the main character of the first goal, and Adeyemi aimed for an additional goal with a mid-range shot outside the box, but it was useless.
Munich continued to aim for the side. In the 35th minute, Kimmich crossed from the right side, which was then directed to Müller. Müller headed in Kimmich’s cross but missed. In the end, Munich couldn’t equalize and headed for the locker room with the lead granted.
◆ Equivalence Fails, Allows Additional Goals… Munich Lose ‘Dare Clasiker’ 0-2 Humiliation
Munich also opened the second half. In the fifth minute of the second half, Kane connected the ball to Davis on the left side, and Davis attempted to shoot directly instead of passing it to his teammate. However, Davis’ shot was not zero.
Dortmund also immediately hit back. Following Luersson’s pass in the seventh minute of the second half, Nmecha threatened Munich with a right footed shot in the box, but Ulrich saved Munich with a save.
Munich took out more replacement cards. In the 28th minute of the second half, Reimer was out and Nusair Mazrawi came in. It was a substitution that showed his intention to try to attack through the side rather than through the midfield. Dortmund replaced Fülkruk with Sebastian Haller, making changes to the front line.
Time did not wait for Munich. Desperate, Munich continued to attack, but Dortmund’s goal was firmly closed. In the 30th minute of the second half, Coman received a pass from Kimmich and attempted a right-footed shot from the box, but the goalkeeper saved it. Even Goretzka’s right footed shot from the ensuing corner failed to open Dortmund’s goal.
Dortmund was not only playing defense. In the 35th minute of the second half, Schlotterbeck attempted a cutback pass from the left side of the box, but Ulrich caught it as it deflected off the Munich defense.
Dortmund set the tone in the beginning. Hummels, who received Nmecha’s pass in the 13th minute of the second half, attempted to shoot a mid-range shot from a long distance, but Ulrich calmly blocked it. Dortmund grabbed the second ball that flowed and started attacking again, but failed to score again this time.
The game did not go well for Munich. After a sharp cross by Davis in the 16th minute of the second half, Müller’s shot was hit by the opponent’s defense. As the attack continued to be blocked, Munich decided to make changes to the game. In the 18th minute of the second half, they brought in second-tier Mussiala, Sané and Müller and added Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, and Matisse Tell.
Dortmund also soon replaced Brandt and Nmecha with Marco Reus and Salich Ozkan.
Dortmund’s quick counterattack shone again in the 20th minute of the second half. Martsen caught the ball that Brandt turned over and connected it with a left-footed shot, but hit the side net. Munich countered with Kane’s header in the 22nd minute of the second half, but it was not enough.
Dortmund scored an additional goal in the ensuing attack, sealing the game. Dortmund, which broke down Munich’s defense through a pass play in the 37th minute of the second half, ended the attack with a calm right-footed shot by Rüersson, who received the ball last.
Munich didn’t give up until the end. In the 39th minute of the second half, they excluded defender Davis and sent striker Erik Maxim Chupo-Moting to pull the reins of the attack. In the 43rd minute of the second half, Kane connected Mazrawi’s cross with a header inside the box to shake the net. However, VAR declared offside, cancelled the score, and the cause for pursuit was extinguished.
In the end, Munich was unable to recover a single goal and suffered a humiliating 0-2 defeat at home to Dortmund. Munich, which beat Dortmund 4-0 in their last away match, took their revenge perfectly. Munich was defeated by Dortmund after 12 official matches in this match.
◆ Does Kim Min-jae still not use it? Unstable Munich defense, it ended up breaking
It’s a game that Kim Min-jae has no choice but to think of. Munich seemed to have found stability in its defense recently, but it collapsed by allowing two goals to Dortmund at home. The combination of Dyer and Derricht, which Tuchel confidently brought up, did not work in this game.
The game seemed to require Kim’s ability to cut off the opponent team’s offense by banking on his aggressive defense. However, it remains to be seen whether Tuchel will be able to pull out his starting card. As Tuchel has not started Kim Min-jae in four consecutive games, including the match against Dortmund, local officials are already judging that he has lost ground in the race for the starting lineup.
Before the game, “Kicker” expected Kim Min-jae, who has been excluded from the starting lineup in recent games, to sit on the bench in the upcoming match against Dortmund.
Now, it seems that Kim Min-jae’s bench and Dyer’s selection are taken for granted. Tuchel mentioned that Kim Min-jae is a qualified player to play as a starter, but he does not use Kim Min-jae as a starter. 룸알바
Germany’s leading media outlet “Bild” pointed out that Kim Min-jae was banned from participating as Tuchel began to prefer the combination of Matheys Derricht and Dier. It was Bild’s idea that Tuchel thinks he feels more stable in the back when he combines defense combinations with Derricht and Dier.
Tuchel also admitted that Kim has been pushed out of the competition. “It is very difficult for (Kim) Min-jae,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports Germany after his landslide victory at Mainz. Especially, Kim Min-jae is highly qualified to play, but there are times when that happens. “Dear and Derricht are in the lineup because they performed well in their two home games.”
As Tuchel also brought up the combination of Diricht and Dyer in this match, Kim Min-jae’s exclusion from starting in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 has increased to four games. Kim Min-jae started all of Lazio (Champions League), Mainz and Darmstadt (League) on the bench since he started in the league match against Freiburg earlier this month.
In this situation, Tuchel spoke about Kim Min-jae and Dayo Upamecano, who were recently excluded from the starting lineup, at an official press conference held before the match against Dortmund.
Tuchel said, “Both Kim Min-jae and Upamecano have amazing abilities. I’m glad that we have four center backs of that level, and the quality of our training has improved as well. No one doubts the performance of Kim Min-jae and Upamecano. Everyone knows how well these players performed in matches against other teams such as Manchester United and Stuttgart.”
At the same time, Tuchel said, “Ufameccano was injured and he had several difficult games, so he had to make changes. Currently, Dier and Diricht are showing good performances,” adding, “This is a good-faith competition that should take place within the team, and we have to continue to see this. We need everyone because we have entered a period of fierce competition.”