Borussia Dortmund hurting after heavy loss in Munich
Borussia Dortmund is hurting again after another heavy Bundesliga defeat in Munich.
Dortmund lost 4-0 in the “der Klassiker” against rival Bayern Munich on Saturday, being fortunate not to concede more goals.
Dortmund’s lackluster performance has been criticized following sporting director Michael Zorc’s call for a “men’s soccer” type of performance in the buildup for the game. Instead, Dortmund delivered what Kicker magazine called “scaredy-cat soccer.”
“A lot of our players just weren’t there today,” Dortmund coach Lucien Favre said. “That’s the biggest disappointment.”
Zorc was even more critical of the performance.
“That wasn’t football at all, to be honest,” he said. “Bayern were on top and better in every respect. Bayern completely took over after 15 minutes and we were second-best at everything. That’s why Bayern also deserved to playing through the pain.
However, former Juventus coach Fabio Capello said the 34-year-old Ronaldo is not the same extraordinary player.
“I didn’t like it (his reaction), it wasn’t nice,” Capello said. “He should be a champion also when he comes off the field.
“The truth is Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t dribbled past an opponent in three years. When he played in Spain he always went win by this score.”
It was Dortmund’s fifth consecutive heavy defeat in Munich. It lost 5-0 in April, 6-0 last year, 4-1 in 2017 and 5-1 in 2015. In its last six games in Munich, Dortmund has been outscored 26-3.
“It was beautiful that the talk before the game was of men’s football,” said Bayern forward Thomas Müller, who set up two goals. “As I’m a bit older now, 30, I know that it gives you a bit extra inspiration. The way I see it, that’s why we are German champions seven times in a row. It’s always wonderful when the Dortmunders come to Munich and we play like we did today.”
Bayern appeared to be in crisis after firing coach Niko Kovac following the team’ 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt – its heaviest league defeat in over 10 years.
But Kovac’s dismissal seems to have come as a relief to some players, and interim coach Hansi Flick has now overseen two wins from two competitive games, with no goals conceded. Bayern reached the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over past players and left them there ... at the moment he can’t do the kind of moves that Dybala can.”
Ronaldo finished last season – his first in Italy – as Juve’s top scorer with 28 goals in all competitions. He has six so far this season, two fewer than he had after the same number of matches last year.
Ronaldo’s next matches will likely be for
Olympiakos on Wednesday.
Bayern’s will to win on Saturday contrasted sharply with Dortmund’s, which will be under increased pressure after it appeared to have turned a corner following a series of questionable results.
Dortmund had strung together three consecutive wins – over league leader Borussia Mönchengladbach in the German Cup, previously unbeaten Wolfsburg in the league, and Inter Milan in the Champions League, when the team displayed great morale to come back from two goals down and win 3-2.
But there was none of that in Munich on Saturday, and Favre and his superiors are left wondering how to consistently get the best from the talented but fallible team.
“We expected a lot from this game,” Zorc said. “Then we delivered what is basically a non-performance. I’m disappointed. You can’t even say that it was just a lack of challenges. We were also bad when we had the ball, we gave it away and simply made it too easy for Bayern. That was a huge disappointment.”
Cagliari’s match against Fiorentina was emotional for both teams and, especially, for Giovanni Simeone.
Play was interrupted in the 13th minute to remember former Fiorentina captain Davide Astori, who was found dead in his hotel room in March 2018 at the age of 31. The defender used to wear the No. 13 shirt and spent most of his career at Cagliari and Fiorentina.
Both sets of teams and fans stood to applaud.
Simeone, who joined Cagliari from Fiorentina in the offseason, was in tears as he pointed to the sky and saluted after scoring his team’s third goal in a 5-2 victory.
“I will always carry this day with me in my heart,” Simeone said.
Cagliari defender Fabio Pisacane also dedicated his goal to Astori.
“I knew him since our youth team days. He was a guy who was loved by everyone, that was shown by the wave of emotion after his death,” Pisacane said. “I scored in the 26th minute which is 13 plus 13, his number.”
Cagliari moved into the Champions League slots with the win. The Sardinian club has finished in the bottom half of the standings in each of the three seasons since it was promoted in 2016.