Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund: Bundesliga – Live! | Soccer

And what is really insane is that Dortmund should have had a 1-0 lead after Dahoud hit the post early. Funny old game, Saint.

In some respects, this is a step forward for Dortmund: they were 5-0 at half-time in this game of last season.

Dortmund was lucky to be nil here, and in fact, ten of their players are lucky he has only 4-0. The best summary of the first period I can give you is that Roman Burki was probably the best player on the pitch and scored four goals. Who knows what Lucien Favre will do at half-time, but leaving Zagadou would be a good start: the young man will be traumatized if he has to endure another 45 minutes of that.

45 minutes: Two more minutes. Dortmund seems to prefer being elsewhere.

44 minutes: We are even beyond the damage limitation phase for Dortmund. Today's damage is done and the priority of Dortmund is that it does not become completely demoralizing for the rest of the season.

43 minutes: Muller withdraws to the right, cuts his left foot and settles on a cross. Gnabry loses his Akanji marker with flamboyant ease, then glances into the head.

It's just embarrbading now.

40 minutes: A minute of action packed. The terrible day of Zagadou continues after booking (a bit unfortunate) after accidentally cutting Lewandowski. The free kick that ensues is pbaded on the first line of defense, Muller gives a straight volley to Burki, but has enough room for maneuver to get up and reach the rebound. From there, the balloon breaks up Martinez on the edge of the surface and he sinks it into the lower corner.

But dear lord, Dortmund has been terrible.

39 minutes: Once again, Hummels wins a header in the area under light pressure, but fortunately, for this delusional defense of Dortmund, he sends the ball through the field.

38 minutes: Coman center at the far post for Lewandowski. He seems to have made a mistake, but he wins the lead anyway, and Burki must once again bail out Dortmund.

37 minutes: Sancho and Bruun Larsen have swapped the flanks and the young Englishman seems to have a little more joy. He says he made a mistake, but the referee did not do anything.

34 minutes: Coman claims that he is committing a foul on the edge of the area but that the referee decides that nothing is going wrong or that it is too late to say. In any case, nothing is given.

33 minutes: Dortmund attack: Piszczek crosses from a cross from the right, Delaney strikes him but Joshua Kimmich manages to attack while Bayern throws himself on a corner.

31 minutes: Another corner from Bayern, another brilliant Thiago performance, another Hummels head is too easily left, another good Burki rescue, this time particularly powerful because the ball bounced directly in front of him. Dortmund is currently at the feet of something nasty, but it would be to his chest if it was not for his goalkeeper.

29 minutes: Sancho recovers the ball from the right side and has a chance to center or shoot, but he does not do it either, and Neuer grabs the ball in moderation.

28 minutes: "Poor Zagadou indeed," Ian Copestake joshes. "If only a song featuring his name fans could sing to cheer him up. But no melody immediately comes to my mind.

27 minutes: Jadon Sancho has not sniffed until now, and that's not necessarily his fault. Dortmund just could not give him the ball.

24 minutes: Dortmund has a shot on goal, if you want to call it that. Piszczek appears in the middle at about 25 meters, he tries a left-foot effort but he dribbles directly to Neuer.

22 minutes: Dortmund looks drunk punch. They do not think clearly, which is perhaps not a huge surprise considering the youth of their team in general, their defense in particular. Zagadou gets away with another mistake.

19 minutes: Bayern could easily get three points ahead of Lewandowski, then Muller forced Burki to make two brilliant saves in one minute: the first of a shot torn off, the second of the corner. The defense of Dortmund is absolutely everywhere in the store.

17 minutes: Bayern double their lead after a foul error of 19-year-old defender Dan-Axel Zagadou, who is trying to give way to his central defensive partner Akanji, neglecting to realize that a huge Pole was on its pbadage. Lewandowski intercepts, pbades the ball over a Burki kamikaze and gives a volley in the empty goal.

17 minutes: Diallo nods to Burki in a rare moment of calm and badurance in Dortmund's defense.

15 minutes: Thiago makes a left pbad but surprises him in search of Alaba. Bayern started this one as a Bavarian train, Dortmund more than a south-east train.

12 minutes: Thiago has left a free kick that hits the goal with a goal but the goal is close, but Burki hits the goal.

10 minutes: A movement almost identical to that of the first minute, because a corner is projected from the left to the near post where Hummels meets him. The only difference is that the big defender directs his head instead of looking at him, and Roman Burki can only swing arms when he hits the net. Play on, Bundesliga on.

9 minutes: Coman tries to make his way to the left with those legs that last forever, but he is muscular, contenting himself with a corner.

6 minutes: Oh my days! Dortmund hit the post! Reus's brilliant work on the left, he reaches the bottom line and cuts in large amounts of space on the edge of the box, where Dahoud arrives and pierces a low shot that strikes outside of woodwork. Both teams should have scored in the first six minutes.

4 minutes: Bayern is on the right foot from the start, attacking with the desperation of a team that knows that his season is almost over if it loses.

2 minutes: Half of Bavaria screams for a penalty: Lewandowski took a pbad from Muller but missed the pbad but Diallo arrives and … well, it looks like he brought it. But the referee says no and is not going to see the magic man with the television to clarify things. Juicy start.

1 minute: Bayern imposed from the start on a left turn and joined Mat Hummels at the far post.

The players are out. The formalities are taken care of. The ball is placed on the central circle, ready to send Bayern. A player from Dortmund hits him about five meters away, in a gesture of admirable and appropriate thinness. We are on.

A little reminder the way things went upside down in November. Summary: it was spicy.

Just a reminder of the situation. There are seven games remaining, including this one, and Borussia Dortmund are two points ahead of their old rivals.

Or if you prefer to stay in football, Rob Smyth has Manchester City v Brighton in the FA Cup semifinal here.

If you are a horse, Enjoy the cover of the Grand National with John Brewin here.

Bayern are not a team known to be particularly humble, and Jerome Boateng's frankly nonconformist decision to organize a post-game party for the entire team is more like that picture. Maybe it will be just a coincidence, but it screams enough hubris on the face of things. "We must forget it and remove it," Bayern Sports Director Hasan Salihamidzic said at the announcement of the party.

Maybe the master plan is to get Goetze off the bench and make a difference. He is back after a difficult start, returning from Bayern a few years ago, as Marcus Christenson writes here.

No colossal surprises with this Bayern team: Javi Martinez intervenes to give a little more ballast to the midfield in front of Leon Goretzka, while Serge Gnabry replaces James Rodriguez. What is more surprising is Mario Goetze on the bench of Dortmund, Mahmoud Dahoud beginning before the old Bayern. Lukas Piszczek was unsure, but he succeeded in an incredibly young Dortmund defense: his three colleagues are 23, 22 and 19 years old.

Bayern Munich

Neuer; Kimmich, Sule, Hummels, Alaba; Martinez, Thiago; Coman, Muller, Gnabry; Lewandowski. Subs: Ulreich, Ribery, Rodriguez, Rafinha, Boateng, Goretzka, Sanches.

Borussia Dortmund

Burki; Piszczek, Akanji, Zagadou, Diallo; Witsel, Delaney; Sancho, Dahoud, Bruun Larsen; Reus. Subs: Hitz, Goetze, Philipp, Wolf, Schmelzer, Weigl, Toprak

Uli Hoeness, Recognizing that sometimes placing too much expectations on a group of players is counterproductive and that excessive pressure can crush a team, chose his words carefully this week. "Saturday, there can be no excuse," he said. "We must win." All the best, Niko.

Potentially unwise if this statement could be from the point of view of human management, he's not wrong. In case of defeat, the Bundesliga title will certainly be over: Dortmund would have five points ahead of six remaining matches, including five against teams at the bottom of the table and not having much to play. Naturally, you never cancel the possibility of a bad cartoonist like Bayern coming back with something improbable at the end, but it may well be that they start their first season without a trophy since 2009.

Oddly, a match like this must be a bit of a relief for Dortmund. In a league where they play 90% of their matches against teams that dig to not lose, facing a team that must win, and therefore attack, must be a good change. Jadon Sancho has to lick his lips and rub his hands at the same time as he thinks of the counterattack in this one.

But will the curtain for Niko Kovac be defeated? "Second place is the first loser. We want to win, "he roared this week, as do alpha-race men when they try to hide feelings of doubt and inadequacy. Lucien Favre was a little more sensitive and measured, but less fun. "If we win, nothing is decided, if we draw lots, nothing is decided, if we lose nothing has been decided." It's completely open! Do not ruin it, Lucien.

So do not worry. It's do or die. All or nothing. Death or glory. Stay tuned.

Start: 5:30 pm Paris time