Match Ratings: Borussia Dortmund Lose 4-2 to Bayern Munich Despite Early Lead

Another trip to the Allianz Arena ends with Borussia Dortmund fans feeling frustrated and disappointed. Dortmund took an early lead, scoring two goals in 10 minutes, with Erling Haaland striking both times, but from that point on the game had a sense of inevitability to it. BVB fluffed their lines with the chance to go 3-0 up, only for Bayern to go up the other end and pull one back. It was all even by halftime, after a penalty gave Bayern a chance to make it 2-2. Bayern were dominant, and slowly but surely they chipped away at BVB’s defense. It was unavoidable. Bayern were going to break through and claim a winner. In the end, it was two goals in the last few minutes of the game that settled the game. Bayern ended up winning 4-2, and BVB were disappointed again.

Here are our ratings from yesterday’s game:

Starting XI

Marwin Hitz

Paul: 5

Steve: 5

Mike: 5

Not at fault for the goals, but almost gifted another with his blunder.

Dan-Axel Zagadou

Paul: 7

Steve: 6

Zagadou came back from injury and put in a good shift. Maybe he could have done better on Bayern’s first goal. I hope he is able to put together a few good games over the remainder of the season.

Mike: 6

Emre Can

Paul: 6

Steve: 6

Emre Can slaloming into midfield is exciting and nerve-wracking. He was clearly fouled in the buildup to the game deciding goal, so I don’t blame him for losing the ball. But that is always a possible outcome.

Mike: 7

I thought Can brought the intensity into the match, I think he was clearly told to go forward when he felt it was needed, he almost sprang a few counters himself.

Mats Hummels

Paul: 6

Steve: 6

Mike: 6

Thomas Meunier

Paul: 4

Had the chance to put BVB 3-0 up in the first half, and unfortunately he got caught in two minds and wasted the opportunity. He was wasteful in possession on a couple of occasions, but I don’t think he was as bad as some fans suggested.

It didn’t help that he had to finish the game as part of the back three. It was his clearance that fell to Goretzka to score the winner, though I don’t think this was Meunier’s fault. Not the best day at the office.

Steve: 4

Moving Meunier into the back three was probably a mistake.

Mike: 4

Nico Schulz

Paul: 6

Schulz got burned by Sane on Lewandowski’s first goal, but to his credit, he was also instrumental in Haaland’s second goal. He will need to be at his best for BVB against Sevilla if Geurreiro is unavailable.

Steve: 6

Mike: 6

I thought Schulz was alright, but as Paul says he was burned easily. His positional awareness before Sane burned him was poor as well.

Thomas Delaney

Paul: 6

Steve: 6.5

His assist was a bit fortunate, but he also put in some solid work in midfield.

Mike: 6

Mahmoud Dahoud

Paul: 5

He had some really good moments, but it was a silly tackle to give up the penalty which let Bayern draw level.

Steve: 6

So brilliant with his passing in the opening 15 minutes, but undid it all by giving up the penalty. Back to back games with stupid mistakes for Dahoud, who always seems to be playing with fire.

Mike: 7

I thought Dahoud was good, but he and Delaney had lots of ground to cover as the wing backs were playing with the back line instead of the midfield. Consistently sprayed balls around the pitch, just did not have enough outlets as the game went on.

Marco Reus

Paul: 6

Steve: 5.5

Mike: 6

Thorgan Hazard

Paul: 7

Steve: 7

This was only Hazard’s third league start of the season and you could see the industry and creativity that we’ve been missing. His assist was the single bes moment in Dortmund’s game.

Mike: 7

We are going to really need him now, great game back.

Erling Haaland

Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images

Paul: 9

Haaland did everything he could to put BVB in a position to win. Luckily it doesn’t look like the injury was too serious.

Steve: 9

Mike: 9

Looked visibly frustrated having to come off, he really wanted to finish the match but there is nothing more he could have done.

Substitutes

Julian Brandt

Paul: 5

Steve: 4

Mike: 5

Steffen Tigges

Paul: 5

Steve: 4

Tigges didn’t do much other than foul.

Mike: 6

I think my colleagues are being a little harsh as this is a tough spot for him to come into. The only service he got was a Morey cross he could not head in. Isolated!

Mateu Morey

Paul: 5

Steve: 5

Mike: 5

Jude Bellingham

Paul: 6

Steve: 6

Mike: 6

Reinier

N/A

Overall

Paul: 6

Everyone is disappointed about the way it happened, but the end result is really no worse than expected before the game. It was always going to be a tough ask with a depleted starting line up, so I’m not that mad about it. They need to move on quickly and focus on the many winnable games coming up in the coming weeks.

Steve: 6

Lewandowski is inevitable. He always scores against BVB, and this year he is on an absolutely incredible run. I liked the game plan, given the circumstances. Sitting back is dangerous against Bayern, but trying to hold the ball is impossible. With a patchwork defensive line, and our best players on the bench, we needed a bit of luck to go our way at the end. But the luck was with Bayern... again.

Mike: 6

I thought the 3-4-3 was a smart move by Terzic, but teams struggle implementing it so quickly. The wing-backs cannot be pushed too far back or it leaves too much space for the midfield to cover. I am looking forward to how this team responds on Tuesday.