The punishing midweek victory over Inter took its toll on weary Bayern in the top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash with Dortmund, as the champions saw their faint hopes of retaining the title effectively ended in a 3-1 home defeat to the runaway leaders.
The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw Lucas Barrios hand the visitors a shock ninth-minute lead, but Luiz Gustavo levelled seven minutes later with his first goal in a Munich shirt. Nuri Sahin restored Dortmund’s advantage just two minutes after that, and former Bayern prospect Mats Hummels made it 3-1 with a header on the hour to seal the champions-elect a first victory in Munich for 20 years.
The demoralising reverse means Louis van Gaal ’s men slip to fourth in the standings on 42 points from 24 matches, now fully 16 points off the leaders, and three behind second-placed Leverkusen, who face a tricky trip to crisis club Bremen tomorrow. The Bavarians must pick themselves up rapidly now as a series of do-or-die matches continues on Wednesday in a DFB Cup semi-final at home to Schalke.
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