Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Bayern Munich: Key Talking Points

The need for defensive reinforcements is apparent, once again

Now that we’ve gotten what I think went well out of the way, let us look at what obviously went wrong. The most glaring issue is something that we touched on in the talking points for the Frankfurt game, and that would be how light reinforcements are in the defensive positions, mainly at right back.

As with the game against Frankfurt, Dortmund’s right flank was often exposed as Bayern did their best to ruffle the feathers of Felix Passlack. He was exposed time and time again by Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman, who would constantly rotate on the wings. Passlack was unfortunately unable to keep up with their quality on the pitch.

As I’ve mentioned before, Passlack is a decent squad player, capable of providing relief in games where either the opposition is weaker, or the result is set in stone. It does not appear as if Passlack and Meunier alone can hold down the right-back position for a longer stretch of the season. And while the club has put their faith in Meunier going forward, it absolutely wouldn’t hurt to add some quality depth into the mix to provide additional competition for places. One of the options currently being linked is Josha Vagnoman. But it remains to be seen if there is any truth to the rumor.

Speaking of players that might be able to help out at right-back, a transfer for Mainz defender Jeremiah St. Juste should perhaps be looking a bit more appealing to the Dortmund hierarchy. Linked with Die Schwarzgelben earlier this year, the Dutchman is capable of playing at both centre-back and right-back, and in addition was one of Mainz’s standout player’s last season courtesy of his defensive acumen and athleticism.