Momentum for Milan: Kompany sees 'courage, mentality & passion'

Three hours earlier, the scoreline had already travelled from Bismarckstraße in Leverkusen to the Allianz Arena: the goalless draw between champions Bayer 04 and Union Berlin shovelled a few extra loads of coal into the already red-hot fire of this traditional clash between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. In the 137th edition of Der Klassiker since the Bundesliga was founded, the league leaders had the opportunity to extend the gap from their closest rivals to eight points with six matchdays to go. And FC Bayern were overwhelmingly superior for long spells of the 2-2 draw, but failed to capitalise on their numerous chances to score more than two goals.

Dortmund almost as clinical as Inter Milan

In contrast, Dortmund, like midweek opponents Inter Milan, showed themselves to be clinical, scoring twice from just three attempts on the FCB goal. Nevertheless, head coach Vincent Kompany was convinced that the powerful and bold attacking display as well as the passionate defensive performance, if not the result, offer plenty of courage and confidence for the upcoming quarter-final second leg at Inter on Wednesday. “Despite many setbacks, we’ve now managed almost 50 shots on goal in two matches against two strong teams,” underlined Kompany. In addition to the 20 attempts in the Champions League on Tuesday, there were a whopping 28 efforts on Saturday evening against fellow UCL quarter-finalists Dortmund. “We can draw strength from that,” according to the Bayern boss. Belief and mentality, the two most important qualities particularly given the current injury situation, were both there for everyone to see, added Kompany.

Something else that would’ve pleased the Belgian is that Aleksander Pavlović and Kingsley Coman both returned to the squad, and later to the pitch following their recent injuries. Both increase the options ahead of the clash with Inter at the San Siro.

Dominance, aggression, drive

Encouragement can above all be taken from the dominance, aggression and drive towards goal that Bayern showed from the start against BVB. “I’d say we defended pretty well in the first half, but didn’t really get going in attack,” admitted Dortmund’s German international Waldemar Anton. “When we did get the ball, we often lost it quickly.” He’s not wrong: the Reds dictated the tempo and direction of this match. The introduction of Thomas Müller also freshened up the Munich offence in the early stages, with the 35-year-old involved in almost every attacking situation.

“Every player I send onto the pitch has our full trust,” emphasised Kompany, explaining his decision to start Müller in place of Raphaël Guerreiro against Dortmund. “Thomas started and did well. As did Serge Gnabry or Guerreiro, who came on. Michael Olise too – we could list them all,” continued the coach. “And we need that at the moment, that confidence in the whole team.”

Faith in whole team

Meanwhile, Dortmund’s confidence in their own abilities had taken a hit at Barcelona. Until they took the lead out of the blue shortly after the break, the Black and Yellows looked visibly knocked. The visitors struggled to get into the duels in the face of Bayern’s determination and presence, becoming increasingly uncertain. Pinned back by a pressing and dominant home side, the opening goal for Bayern was in the air. However, for various reasons and in spite of 60 percent possession, it just didn’t come. Sometimes the attacker slipped when shooting, then the Dortmund defenders blocked a plethora of attempts, or headers from promising positions weren’t accurate enough. “The match had a crazy ending,” bemoaned Harry Kane. “We dominated it, should’ve led at half-time but squandered too many chances.”

Bayern’s very best opportunity in the first half actually originated from Minjae Kim losing possession and then quickly regaining it with a forceful sliding tackle on Dortmund’s Julian Ryerson. Kane responded to Kim’s challenge with a tackle of his own and sent the ball on to Olise, who couldn’t beat BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel from a tight angle. However, the scene should serve as an object lesson in determination, fight and passion – which, as against Inter, also revealed the only problem with Bayern's play: insufficient chance conversion.

“All in all it was a good performance,” commented Kane nevertheless. “We just need to be more clinical in the final third.” Midfielder Joshua Kimmich said: “We’re making life too difficult for ourselves because we’re not efficient enough. We again had a plethora of good chances, especially in the first half.” An early goal would’ve made things decisively easier, continued the Germany captain. “With early goals you then tend to get into a flow. We saw that in the Champions League. We failed to score early on there as well, which certainly would’ve helped us. As a result, the games remain open and that makes them harder work.”

Vital impetus from the bench

It was two substitutes who then provided the much-needed boosts: Guerreiro equalised after build-up from the lively Gnabry and Müller, who delivered a perfect low cross. Gnabry himself put Bayern 2-1 up with a magnificent solo run, first outpacing Julian Brandt and then running around Dortmund’s central defenders like they were cones on the training ground. In the space of four minutes, the Bavarians had overturned the surprising opening goal from Maximilan Beier. “We reacted well to going behind,” said Kane. “The substitutes had a good influence on the game. We’re disappointed that we conceded again.” As was the case against Inter, another avoidable goal was conceded out of nothing, this time with a tap-in by Anton.

Problem identified

“We always want to win,” underlined Kompany following full time of an intense encounter. “We didn’t succeed this time, so there’s always the feeling it could be better.” Kimmich sees efficiency as the issue: “We’re putting in a great deal of effort, creating lots of chances – but not taking them. While the opponents are then scoring with their first two half-chances.”

The problem has been recognised by Bayern. “We’ve been better in all these matches and haven’t managed to win,” continued Kimmich. “That’s what’s annoying me most at the moment. I always feel like we’re the better team but that’s not reflected in the result.” Müller was positive, though: “We created a lot of chances, which should help us on Wednesday.” Despite the draw against Dortmund, there remains a good, positive feeling that gives us momentum – and that should travel to Milan on Wednesday. “It’s not like we need a miracle,” said Kimmich. “We only have to win one match. We should go into it with that mindset.”

The reaction to Der Klassiker: