Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Bayern Munich: Key Talking Points

Dortmund’s attack needs to put away more clear chances

After the final whistle was blown, a frustrated Erling Haaland stormed across the pitch, visibly irritated by the display he and his teammates put on. Its important to emphasize that while we often can’t criticize the striker for his performances, this was clearly not one of his best in a Dortmund shirt.

Haaland, like many of his teammates, missed opportunities created from the midfield to put this game beyond Bayern’s reach, and that’s just the reality of the situation. Both teams missed huge chances, especially in the first half, but the difference was that Bayern capitalized on subsequent openings Dortmund presented them with, while the home side did not reply in kind.

That being said, by no means should we expect that Haaland will have a great day on the field every day. As much as we like to joke and say that he is a cyborg, he is in fact human. And even on an off day, he still put in the hard work and still managed the back of the net, even though the goal was ruled out thanks to a marginal offside call.

It is to this end why the squad needs to do more than just rely on the Norwegian international, and put chances away themselves when given the opportunity.

Youssoufa Moukoko also made inroads behind the Bayern lines but often found himself in an offside position, showing perhaps a glimmer of his inexperience at the top level. We can’t of course be too harsh on him however as he is still extremely young and should be commended for showing the ability for Marco Rose to trust him with a start, though I suspect this also had something to do with new signing Donyell Malen still working towards getting up to speed with his teammates.

He is another player who has only really showed glimpses of the talent that earned him a move to the Westfalenstadion in the first place. I expect that as he gets more settled, he will grow in confidence and become the integral part of the team he was brought in to be.

One player that of course deserves an honorable mention is Marco Reus. The Borussia Dortmund captain was responsible for the only goal Die Schwarzgelben were able to put past Manuel Neuer. He also found himself in a slew of dangerous positions and did his utmost best to set up chances for his teammates. And his goal was a top class curler from just outside the box. Aside from missing what looked a real chance in the first half, Reus looked up for it from start to finish, which bodes well for his season to come.