Bundesliga 2018-19, Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich: 5 takeaways from the match

The first Der Klassiker of the season lived up to the hype. With the Bavarians struggling for form, a visit to Signal Iduna Park was never going to be easy.

The crowd shrieked at the top of their voices from the first minute. They cheered their team’s counter attacks and jeered at every possession and every chance that Bayern created.

Bayern took the lead through Lewandowski twice, both times canceled out by Marco Reus. Paco Alcacer’s winner along with a late Bayern goal ruled offside, gave Borussia Dortmund the victory.

Dortmund now sits at the top of the table, seven points clear of Bayern Munich. With head coach Lucien Favre winning over the fans at Westfalenstadion, the exact opposite is happening to Niko Kovac at Bayern. The Bundesliga title slowly slipping away from Bayern’s grasp, Niko Kovac has pressure mounting on him and he has to solve a plethora of problems.

Here are five takeaways from the Der Klassiker.

#5 Borussia Dortmund’s defence: Resistant yet vulnerable

Zagadou was effective at the back barring a few incidents

With the brutal attacking trio of Gnabry, Ribery, and Lewandowski pouring on the shots, the young Dortmund defense had to be on their toes.

Ribery and Gnabry put the defence under immense pressure, creating chance after chance, shot after shot.

The resurgent defence of Zagadou and Akanji dealt well with the front three. They managed to block off most of the shots and cutbacks. The clearances from the defense always presented an opportunity for a counter-attack.

However, both the goals that Bayern scored was as a result of a defensive lapse. The first goal for Lewandowski was a piece of cake. The cross coming in wasn’t dealt with.

Lewandowski was under no pressure and easily headed the ball in for the goal. He scored his second under similar circumstances. The defense just didn’t deal with Kimmich’s delivery and again Lewandowski finished without any pressure.

Thankfully, the defensive errors didn’t cost Dortmund and they went on to win. Luck was on their side when they just caught Ribery offside in the final minute.

The defensive four of Dortmund is young and has to learn a lot. However, they have promise and can deal with attacking teams quite well.