Dortmund hold their nerve to show Bayern they are in a real title race | Bundesliga

“We only have one competition left,” said Sebastian Kehl, Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director. “But we’re fully in the race.” That had not always been a given on a Bundesliga Super Saturday which was more of a Squeaky Bum Saturday, to paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson. The jitters were not restricted to Borussia Dortmund either.

Some 500km to the south, as Bayern Munich eked out their own narrow win to maintain the status quo in the title race, Joshua Kimmich clenched both fists and roared at the Freiburg fans, to widespread disapproval on all sides. It was a reaction, said the captain, to “provocation” from the stadium announcer, who had the temerity to celebrate Christian Streich’s side knocking the league champions out of the German Cup. “I let myself get carried away,” was the closest that Kimmich came to contrition.

It is natural enough for the moment of truth to arrive at this time of year though, as in every major European league, we’re not quite as far along as we think, given the extended winter hiatus for the World Cup. There are still seven games to go and – hopefully – many twists to come. What is remarkable is that, for the first time in a long time, there is a real jostle developing. The Bundesliga title is far from decided, it seems.

There was a moment, just after 4.50pm local time, when it felt like that might not be the case. Bayern had already taken the lead, returning to a two-point advantage in the table through an unlikely source, as Matthijs de Ligt arrowed a magnificent strike into the top-left corner of Mark Flekken’s goal. Then BVB’s worst fears were realised. They had played well against the ever-awkward Union, but missed the chances to put themselves out of sight and were punished.

A brilliant combination between Kevin Behrens and Sheraldo Becker left the former bearing down on Gregor Kobel and the Berliners’ first effort on target was converted. Behrens was about to be hooked by Urs Fischer, with Jamie Leweling stripped and stood on the touchline ready to go, alongside his fellow substitute Paul Seguin. Behrens’ last touch had been emphatic and Dortmund were set to slip four points behind Bayern. Not quite a decisive lead at this stage, perhaps, but draining the yearned-for tension from the pursuit.

BVB hadn’t deserved this. They responded with the guts and resolve required (and which we never expected from them before Christmas) after a chastening week on the road. They had been humbled by Bayern in the Bundesliga and dumped out of the cup by RB Leipzig after a dismal performance heavily criticised by Hans-Joachim Watzke, their CEO, and Edin Terzic (it was “catastrophic” and “a shitty evening”, according to the coach). “The question,” pondered Watzke, “is why the team carelessly tear down what they have built up with hard work for eight months.”

They did everything to fix that here, with their bite matching their enterprise as epitomised by Donyell Malen’s opener. It was tempting, then, to think they merited their good luck when Seguin’s interception went awry to let in the substitute Youssoufa Moukoko, who nimbly rounded Frederik Rønnow and tucked in the winner. Moukoko then ran to embrace Terzic. “The coach said to me,” recounted Moukoko, “‘when you come on, you decide this thing.’ Berlin just suits me.”

It really does. Moukoko became the youngest ever Bundesliga player in making his debut at Hertha, the day after his 16th birthday in 2020, and a month later he scored against Union to become the youngest scorer in the league’s history. When Kehl spoke openly about their title ambitions it told us that this team, now well-marshalled by Terzic, believe in themselves as problem solvers.

Bayern are also shifting expectations this season, though not necessarily in a positive way. That the midweek cup loss to Freiburg got under their skin was abundantly clear; their opponents had never beaten them away before. “Never, never, never?” Streich sought to verify afterwards with some astonishment. “Hasn’t Volker ever won?” he asked, referring to Volker Finke, Freiburg’s previous ever-present on the bench between 1991 to 2007, and the coach responsible for the “Breisgau Brazilians” of the mid-1990s.

The current Freiburg, standing on the brink of a historic season, are not the same. They are frustrating opponents, as illustrated by Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Sebastian Fischer, who referred to their style as “a kind of Black Forest catenaccio”. Until De Ligt’s Hail Mary, Bayern were struggling to break through, hitting the woodwork twice with Sadio Mané now having gone 163 days without a Bayern goal. They remain dominant, of course, but the returns are uneven.

Not that Dortmund were totally free of nerves, as yellow cards for Marco Reus, Emre Can and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, all in stoppage time and all for dissent, underlined. Yet they feel better equipped to retain their composure than they have in the recent past – and they arguably have an easier run-in.

That Bayern, still getting to know Thomas Tuchel (who faces another tough test in this week’s Champions League tie with Manchester City), are betraying their own signs of tension suggests that they know, this time, BVB’s poise is different too.

Talking points

With Union and Freiburg shedding points, Leipzig took advantage to move back into the top four with a single-goal win at Hertha. Amadou Haidara’s winner was examined for a possible foul, handball or offside by the VAR team but eventually allowed – much to the annoyance of Hertha’s Sandro Schwarz, who was facing his former housemate in opposite number Marco Rose. The referee, Deniz Aytekin, put Schwarz firmly in his place, despite the latter’s persistent complaints, with his post-match comments. “I didn’t see a foul,” said Aytekin. “It was just poorly defended.”

Leverkusen also made hay, with their 3-1 win over fading Eintracht Frankfurt taking them above Oliver Glasner’s side and into sixth. Having been in the relegation zone when Xabi Alonso took over in October, Die Werkself are now just five points shy of a Champions League place. “We don’t look at the table,” insisted Alonso. “We just keep our feet on the ground and keep going.” That’s easier said than done after seven successive wins, with the first leg of a Europa League quarter-final against Union Saint-Gilloise to come on Thursday.

In the nailbiting fight to stay up, Stuttgart moved off the bottom as their new coach, Sebastian Hoeness, made his debut with a 3-2 win at Bochum, who are now dragged back into the thick of it. The tension was evident as Bochum’s goalkeeper, Manuel Riemann, was pulled apart from a spectator who insulted him at the end. Kevin Stöger’s equaliser had looked like putting the home side in the driving seat before Serhou Guirassy put Stuttgart back in front 97 seconds later. “Anything can happen,” observed Bochum’s coach, Thomas Letsch. “But that you let in a goal so quickly [after equalising] can’t.”

Schalke went down 2-0 in the late Sunday game at Hoffenheim and, in truth, rarely threatened their hosts. After such an encouraging start to 2023, they have now lost two games on the bounce and face the mother of all relegation six-pointers as they host Hertha in Gelsenkirchen on Friday night.