Key events
1 mins: And we’re away. Dortmund kick off and blam it long. A bit of head tennis before Reus wins an early corner. Cleared. The Allianz Arena is in suitably deafening voice.
Nearly time to go. Plenty of hugs deferential handshakes as the two sets of players converge in the tunnel, which is a shame. But game faces are quickly affixed.
Man of the hour Thomas Tuchel has a pre-game chat with Bastian Schweinsteiger (who’s fast turning into a Dolph Lundgren doppelgänger)
… but still some work for him to do before he’s worth a place in England’s All-Star Double-Barrelled XI, which for my money is: Peacock-Farrell; Maitland-Niles, Carter-Vickers, Fosu-Mensah, Alexander-Arnold; Ward-Prowse, Loftus-Cheek, Smith-Rowe; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hudson-Odoi, Calvert-Lewin.
Or am I wrong?
Among Dortmund’s subs this evening: Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, an 18-year-old London-born forward who has broken into the first team this season having been poached from Man City’s youth setup a couple of years back. Inevitable Sancho/Bellingham comparisons with be drawn, not helped by the fact that the he has impressed hugely with his explosive attacking displays this season, including three goals from the bench. One to keep tabs on.
A bit of pre-match reading:
A double-boost for Dortmund, then, as Gregor Kobel makes the lineup after a late fitness test alongside Julian Brandt. But Jamal Musiala and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, both pre-match doubts, also make the grade for Bayern, the latter on the bench. Lucas Hernandez however does not. The man to watch today? Raphael Guerreiro, whose recent move to central midfield has paid dividends and will be looking to get behind Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich to expose the Bayern backline. If Dortmund are to get a result today they’ll need Guerreiro to turn it on and he is eminently capable.
Team news!
Bayern: Sommer; Davies, Upamecano, De Ligt, Pavard; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sané, Müller, Coman; Choupo-Moting.
Subs: Ulreich, Gnabry, Mané, Cancelo, Blind, Gravenberch, Mazraoui, Musiala, Stanisic.
Dortmund: Kobel; Schlotterbeck, Wolf, Süle, Ryerson; Guerreiro, Can, Bellingham; Reus, Haller, Brandt.
Subs: Meyer, Oscan, Dahoud, Hummels, Moukoko, Modeste, Malen, Adeyemi, Bynoe-Gittens
Preamble
Eat, pray, love. Then win the league. Thomas Tuchel is back! Having withdrawn to an Indian health retreat after being sacked by Chelsea in October and enjoyed a month of Ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy (us neither), the rejuvenated supercoach has returned, wanderlust sated, to the belly of the beast.
The beast in question is of course Bayern Munich, who ruthlessly parted ways with Bart Simpson Julian Nagelsmann this week and wasted no time in appointing another wündercoach to pick up the pieces. A point off the top of the Bundesliga with 10 wins from 10 in the Champions League was deemed ersatz for Nagelsmann, so his replacement arrives with a fairly daunting mission. First on his hitlist: the club that made him a superstar.
The good news is that a win here would put crisis-club Bayern on track for the title. While Dortmund have largely led the way all season, their rivals have reeled them in bit by bit, and victory today would see Bayern leapfrogging their way to the summit.
The bad news is that Dortmund have been near enough perfect this year, dropping just two points from 30 and outscoring everyone else in the division. Set against that is the fact that Bayern have won the last eight games against Dortmund here by an aggregate 33-6.
Either way, goals should at least be on the menu, with these teams averaging five a game between them and, just to make things interesting, both first-choice keepers out injured. The stakes couldn’t be higher – this should be a howitzer. Stay tuned!
