Bayern Munich don’t actually beat Borussia Dortmund as often as most folk might think. Considering their dominance over the Bundesliga, you’d be forgiven for assuming they tend to turn over their black and yellow “rivals” on a regular basis, but ahead of this season they’d only won seven of the last 15 clashes between the two sides.
However on Saturday they made it one from one in the first “Der Klassiker” in the German league calendar, comfortably disposing of Dortmund in front of their famous Yellow Wall with goals from Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski and David Alaba.
A routine defeat for Peter Bosz fledgling career in Germany, perhaps, but eagle-eyed fans of the former German champions would have noted that there was a familiar tone to Saturday’s humbling experience. Dortmund defeat to Bayern was the latest in a growing run of big-game ties that this new side have completely flunked.
Taking Bayern to penalties in the pre-season German Super Cup was certainly encouraging for the new coach, yet his side stumbled in their first, real test when they went to Wembley and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
An identical scoreline then cropped up in the following Champions League tie at home to Real Madrid, before a Timo Werner-less RB Leipzig threw the cat among the pigeons with a 3-2 win at the Westfalenstadion just two weeks later.
Although the quality of the opponent is certainly worth questioning, Dortmund still stumbled through the limelight shone upon them in their back-to-back ties against APOEL Nicosia. With pressure surely applied, Bosz’s side dropped four necessary points and now risk even missing out on the third-place spot in their group.
Fans may point to the wins over Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg, FC Koln and Borussia Monchengladbach to defend their new coach, but at the very best the former Ajax manager is doing the bare minimum with this talent squad of players. While every genuine test is met with disappointment and a disturbing pattern of ineptitude.
Bosz’s side may only be a point behind the start Thomas Tuchel’s own team made last season, but the famed tactician had already beaten Bayern once, drawn with Madrid and looked like he was building something special and with purpose.
Although Bosz has only just begun his work in the North West of Germany, his stumbling start has raised more questions than cheers from the Dortmund faithful. And with every withering performance against sides of equal or better quality the gap between him and his predecessor grows larger and larger.
