Post Match Observations: Borussia Dortmund Get Pummeled at The Allianz Arena

Man... When Dortmund came out blazing the first 15 minutes, I had very high hopes for the rest of the game. Those hopes were quickly killed by one massive costly mistake from Gregor Kobel, and as a result, Bayern are now two points in front of BVB in the table.

I have a lot of sympathy for Kobel in this situation though. He has saved so many points for the Black-and-Yellows this season, but today just wasn’t his day. Terzic will have a lot to think about, and hopefully the team can bounce back against Leipzig in the midweek.

Here are my observations from Dortmund’s 4-2 defeat against Bayern Munich:

Thomas Tuchel’s Simple Approach Worked Well

Let me get this out of the way first: I really don’t like complaining about tactics. For one, I always assume that professional coaches know better than me (which they do). And secondly, I always tend to think people overanalyze football games to the point where it becomes pointless. With that said, I have something to say this time around.

What the hell was Terzic thinking? The goal was clearly to make the pitch narrow, play in tight spaces and win the ball back as a result of keeping a lot of players close in case the ball was lost. The tactical approach for this game actually reminded me quite of Nagelsmann’s approaches with Bayern. The only difference is that this approach only works well against teams that have difficulty playing out of a press and don’t tend to rely on 1v1 duels in order to create chances. And you know what Bayern are really good at? Exactly those two things. They have technically gifted players all over the pitch, and players like Coman and Sané are at their best when they’re able to beat a man in a one-on-one situation. The moment Dortmund lost the ball, Bayern looked to play diagonal passes in order to set up Coman or Sané against Wolf or Ryerson. Both Bayern’s wingers always had a lot of space to run into, and it spawned a lot of big chances. I do think Terzic made it easy for Tuchel today, and with the quality Bayern have, I honestly think Terzic’s tactical approach was a bit cocky.

Kobel Had a Night to Forget

I don’t have to say much about this. Completely missing the ball for a clearance is obviously bad, but it’s different against Bayern. If you go 1-0 behind against Bayern at The Allianz, there’s a long way back. If you punch the ball directly out to Thomas Müller to go behind 2-0, it becomes almost impossible. Kobel has been almost inhuman at some points this season, so I can easily forgive him for this. I also trust him to bounce back from this. Keep your head up, Greg, you still deserve a new and better contract.

How Does the Team Recover From This?

I actually wrote this heading when the score was 4-1, and I thought the game was going to end that way. Still, this one is obviously hard to swallow for any team. Dortmund were one point in front and had the chance to have an extra game in hand on Bayern. Now they are once again back to chasing the title. It will be very interesting to see the response from Terzic and the team in the coming weeks. I do think Terzic have made the team way more consistent, and I haven’t seen this level of consistency since... Tuchel.

Other Observations:

• I think Marius Wolf was once again pretty good. He will be crucial for our final stretch of games.
• Malen was probably our best offensive player on the day. I’m glad he’s doing well, because that means the team will do well as a whole.
• If Schlotterbeck’s injury is serious, Terzic will have a big problem. Let’s hope it’s not!

Your Thoughts?

What did you make of the game today? Was it a disaster? Do you think Tuchel will collect 24 points from Bayern’s remaining 8 games? Let me know in the comments below!