Supercup yields 'important insights' for preparations

Joshua Kimmich's solo run after 66 minutes was symbolic of the Supercup final between FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. The Germany international received the ball in midfield, sent two opponents the wrong way with a fine swerve and charged towards the box. He slalomed his way through the defence, sidestepping four opponents and had only keeper Marwin Hitz to beat. The 24-year-old rounded the netminder, but the angle was too tight to find the net.

Kimmich had done everything right, but "the goal was missing. The last touch wasn't good," he commented on his dribble. It was one little mistake that spoiled the perfect finish.

The same goes for the 2-0 defeat at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park as a whole. "I can't say we were weaker. We turned in a good display but made a lot of mistakes that led to the goals," sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic commented after the match in which the German record champions had enjoyed 65 percent of the ball and taken seven shots to Dortmund's four.

"We didn't take our chances, that's why we lost," summarised Niko Kovac. "I think we turned in a decent display. We were dominant but made two mistakes Dortmund capitalised on." Paco Alcácer's opener shortly after the restart and Jadon Sancho's goal with 20 minutes to go came after Bayern had lost possession.

Analyse the match and implement changes at the training camp

All of Borussia's promising opportunities resulted from turnovers. But Bayern had their chances and pressed the Bundesliga runners-up to their own box at times. "I liked the first half, we should have scored a goal then," said Manuel Neuer, referring to Kingsley Coman's two chances after 22 minutes and Robert Lewandowski's header after 25 minutes. Leon Goretzka, Coman and Thomas Müller had chances after the restart, not to mention Kimmich's solo run, but the ball refused to go in.

But that is not unusual during pre-season, so the Bavarians were by no means worried after missing out on the first title of the season. "We can learn many lessons from the match but I'm not nervous," declared Salihamidzic. "We can now analyse the match and improve, so it isn't so bad," summarised Lewandowski. The next opportunity will come next week, when the Bavarians complete a training camp at Tegernsee. The whole squad will take part and work hard so that the ball will go over the line in the cup clash with Energie Cottbus next weekend.