analysis
Anthony Modeste’s last-minute equalizer pushed many aspects of the top game between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern into the background. However, it is worth examining these aspects. The analysis.
header. Goal. 2:2 Ecstasy. final whistle lap of honor. “Everyone felt the relief”, said Dortmund’s coach Edin Terzić about the moment when the previously heavily scolded striker Anthony Modeste scored his second goal in a BVB jersey. It averted Borussia’s fourth defeat of the season and ensured that Munich were stuck with four wins.
The two industry leaders in German football each have 16 points to their credit. That’s less than 1.8 points on average per game. 1. FC Union Berlin and SC Freiburg stayed ahead of BVB and FCB in the table despite playing one game less.
Süle versus Mané
All of that faded into the background due to the spectacular ending. But the history is worth taking a closer look at, even though many top games between the two teams in recent years have been at a higher level in terms of play and tactics.
Terzić fielded three central defenders but stayed with a back four. Niklas Süle moved to the right end for Thomas Meunier, who was unable to play for private reasons. He often had to deal with Sadio Mané, who mostly held his position, unlike at the beginning of the season, when Bayern’s four attacking players often castled and thus posed considerable problems for the opposing chains in the handover.
BVB and FCB with a similar basic formation
Dortmund positioned themselves relatively low when Munich had possession of the ball, built up a 4-5-1 in order to offer Bayern little space and time on the ball. The concept largely worked out in an uneventful first half, which was characterized by the fact that the two basic formations almost mirrored each other.
This often leads to a certain neutralization, in which the much-quoted little things decide. It’s often standard situations. on Saturday there were several small mistakes by Dortmund.
Süle didn’t get close enough to Mané in preparation for the Munich opening goal, allowing the Senegalese to come at him with speed. Nico Schlotterbeck was a step too far behind, canceling out a possible offside for Jamal Musiala, who was able to pass through to goalscorer Leon Goretzka as Emre Can and Salih Özcan were too far away from the champions’ attacking players.
No mistake was blatant on its own, but together they led to the break deficit. “You know how many scoring chances Bayern usually have,” said Terzić in the press conference and quarreled that a chance from a rather low category meant the 0:1.
BVB with luck and Adeyemi
Something else happened shortly before the break that was to have a significant impact on the further course of the game. Jude Bellingham hit Alphonso Davies in the head and was lucky to stay on despite a previous yellow card (though it was questionable). Davies had to leave the field with a suspected concussion and was replaced by Josip Stanišić.
The 22-year-old German-Croat played left-back on a side with Kingsley Coman. The duo struggled with Karim Adeyemi, who came on from Terzić after Leroy Sané made it 2-0 thanks to a mistake by Dortmund goalkeeper Alexander Meyer. Adeyemi brought pace that BVB had lacked until then.
“Then it got wild”
Another change was needed to turn the game around. “We didn’t want to open the rooms too early and didn’t want to get wild too early. That should only happen at a signal from outside, and then it got wild”, said Terzić, who switched to a 4-4-2 with the substitution of Modeste in the 70th minute.
A little later, the new signing from 1. FC Köln put the 1:2 on his strike partner Youssoufa Moukoko. The previously very good Dayot Upamecano made mistakes because he didn’t pick up the pace before the predictable pass to Modeste and then didn’t consistently disturb him in the penalty area for fear of a foul.
Stanišić faulty
The stadium woke up after that and things got very wild in the closing stages, mainly due to Adeyemi running away from Stanišić and even Coman more often, even forcing the Frenchman to commit a foul which resulted in a yellow-red card.
Alexander Meyer’s permanent stay in the Munich half caused even more unrest in Bayern in injury time. As a result, Stanišić made two more errors. First, he let one of the many wide crosses into the penalty area, believing the ball would fly out of the gate. Then he was too passive against Schlotterbeck, who just got the ball. The rest was: flank. header. Goal. 2:2 Ecstasy. final whistle lap of honor.