Tuesday 17th August 2021
Reus’ dream goal is not enough for BVB
FC Bayern counters doubts with Supercup title
FC Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund in the Supercup and secured their first title under the new coach Julian Nagelsmann. A dream goal by Marco Reus is not enough for BVB because Robert Lewandowski clearly wins the striker duel against Erling Haaland.
Show of power after stuttering start: Led by super striker Robert Lewandowski, FC Bayern, which was still staggering at the start of the league, found its way back to its old sovereignty and won the Supercup for the ninth time in a prestigious duel with Borussia Dortmund. The deserved 3: 1 (1: 0) in the competition between champions and cup winners with two goals from the greedy world footballer gave Julian Nagelsmann the first title of his coaching career in professional football and ended a negative series of his new team with previously four winless test games and the moderate one 1: 1 at the start of the league in Mönchengladbach.
Twice Lewandowski (41st and 74th minute) and Thomas Müller (49th) ensured the well-deserved victory of the guests in front of 25,000 spectators in Dortmund. Marco Reus’ dream goal from Dortmund was too little (64th). Lewandowski thus clearly won the comparison with BVB striker Erling Haaland. In contrast, the Dortmund team could not build on the famous performance against Frankfurt (5: 2) and missed the chance to provide further tailwind. Before the ball rolled in the Dortmund arena, Gerd Müller was remembered with a minute’s silence. The greatest goalscorer in German football history died on Sunday at the age of 75. In his honor, the Bayern players wore warm-up shirts with the number 9 on the back and the name of the legend.
Incredible Lewandowski
After that, the current top scorer Lewandowski and Haaland were in the spotlight – with clear advantages for the top scorer from Munich. When the world footballer was on the ball, there was a high level of alert in the BVB back team. And so it was hardly surprising that Lewandowski was also involved in all the goals. First he scored the opening goal after a fine cross from Serge Gnabry with a head.
Then Lewandowski was significantly involved in the second goal when he irritated Dortmund’s new goalkeeper Gregor Kobel after a cross with an attempted back-heel trick. The Swiss could not bring the ball under control, so that at the EM, still goalless Müller dusted off. And finally the striker took advantage of a bad play error by Manuel Akanji to score his second goal. He scored the 24th goal in the 24th game against his ex-club BVB. Lewandowski missed another big chance when he met Dortmund’s Axel Witsel on the shoulder from a short distance (34th). On the other hand, the Munich back team was better positioned against the massive Haaland.
Before the game there had been discussions about whether the Norwegian could replace Lewandowski as the number one goalscorer after his great start against Frankfurt (2 goals, 3 assists). At least in the Supercup the question is cleared, as is the future of Haaland. Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc made it clear before the game that the striker will definitely wear the black and yellow jersey this season. And Haaland also had his scenes against Bayern. However, he drew the short straw against the outstanding national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (39th). The Bayern goalkeeper had previously parried against Marco Reus in a world-class manner (20th).
Akanji stumbles upon Dortmund hope
The fact that Bayern were still without a win under Nagelsmann was hardly noticeable in the game. Against their arch-rivals, the Munich team was up to speed again, playing powerfully and with a lot of speed. Start-up problems under the new coach were not apparent. Bayern also got off to a better start and identified Dortmund’s right-back Felix Passlack as a weak point. The youngster failed three times in the initial phase (10th, 14th and 15th), but the Munich offensive did not yet know how to use this. In addition to Lewandowski, Gnabry and Kingsley Coman, who moved into the team for Leroy Sané, played on the outside.
It quickly became clear on the pitch that it was not just about the first title, but also about prestige. Niklas Süle cleared Haaland in front of the penalty area, shortly afterwards Marco Reus went ahead with an extended leg and caused a pack formation. It stayed with yellow cards. In the stands, the new national coach Hansi Flick was very well entertained when his champions Bayern performed. The Dortmunders couldn’t be denied their will. Often only centimeters were missing as in the 53rd minute when Haaland was just offside at his goal. And then it did happen. After a pass from Jude Bellingham, Reus circled the ball into the corner, which caused the noise level to skyrocket. That changed when Akanji played the ball in Corentin Tolisso’s legs, which staged Lewandowski.
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