DUESSELDORF, Germany: Bayern Munich’s slim title chances might depend on a win over Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga “Klassiker.”
Dortmund isn’t the real threat though. With Bayer Leverkusen still soaring 10 points clear with just eight games to go, dropping any more points could be fatal to Bayern’s chances of a dramatic comeback in defense of the title.
Bayern might have to do without top scorer Harry Kane and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after injuries meant both were unable to play for their national teams.
Kane “was able to join in with parts of the session” in training Wednesday after he hurt his ankle in a collision with a goalpost in Bayern’s 5-2 win over Darmstadt on March 16, when he scored his personal-best 31st goal of the season. Bayern said Kane trained on Thursday, too, without elaborating.
Neuer tore the adductor muscle in his left thigh in training with Germany last week, meaning Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen took over in goal for friendly wins over France and the Netherlands ahead of hosting Euro 2024. Neuer managed what Bayern described as an individual workout Wednesday, his 38th birthday, and the same Thursday.
Even if Kane and Neuer aren’t fit for Saturday evening’s clash with Dortmund, Bayern might power through anyway. After all, Bayern had fitness concerns over their defense for the last Klassiker in November and still surged to a 4-0 win.
The problem with the Klassiker — in theory the German league’s showpiece game — isn’t just that Bayern are second and Dortmund a distant fourth. It’s also that so few recent Klassikers have been genuinely competitive contests.
Bayern have scored 23 goals in their last seven games against Dortmund in all competitions and haven’t lost since 2019 in a German Super Cup game.
The last time Dortmund won in the Bundesliga at Bayern’s Allianz Arena was all the way back in 2014, when the coaches were Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp, and future Bayern great Robert Lewandowski was still a Dortmund player.
“They always save their best for us, so we have to be ready,” coach Edin Terzic said Thursday. He has some tough decisions to make on his lineup.
On-loan Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho is set to return after missing Dortmund’s last game, and striker Sebastien Haller could play for the first time since the Africa Cup of Nations after an ankle problem. However, midfielder Marcel Sabitzer is suspended, while goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is doubtful with a stomach bug, and left back Ramy Bensebaini was injured on international duty with Algeria.
The international break may also prove extra motivation for some Dortmund players who are out of Germany’s plans after forward Niclas Füllkrug was the only player at the club called up by coach Julian Nagelsmann. Teammates such as Julian Brandt, Emre Can and Nico Schlotterbeck were left out.
Bayern could be 13 points adrift of the lead before the Klassiker even kicks off, given that Leverkusen hosts Hoffenheim earlier Saturday. Xabi Alonso’s team are still unbeaten in a scarcely believable 38 games in all competitions this season. A first ever Bundesliga title is on the horizon.
Unless Dortmund can beat Bayern, they will miss the chance to put pressure on third-placed Stuttgart, which host Heidenheim on Sunday. Leipzig are fifth and could leapfrog Dortmund with a win over Mainz on Saturday.
Bayern wait on Kane’s and Neuer’s fitness for ‘Klassiker’ against Dortmund
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Bayern wait on Kane’s and Neuer’s fitness for ‘Klassiker’ against Dortmund
- Kane “was able to join in with parts of the session” in training Wednesday
- Neuer tore the adductor muscle in his left thigh in training with Germany last week
Real Madrid run riot as Valverde treble stuns Man City
- Valverde completed a first career hat-trick before half-time with the best of his three strikes
MADRID: Federico Valverde’s superb first-half hat-trick helped Real Madrid demolish Manchester City 3-0 in a surprise Champions League last 16 first leg rout on Wednesday.
Los Blancos were missing several key players including Kylian Mbappe but Uruguayan midfielder Valverde’s stunning treble, netted inside a 22-minute spell, crushed Pep Guardiola’s team at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius Junior missed a penalty in the second half as Madrid could have built further on their significant lead ahead of the second leg in Manchester next Tuesday.
Even though Madrid are the record 15-time winners, their sketchy form offered little reason to believe they would pull off such a dominant result in what has become a modern Champions League classic.
City, who won the competition for the first and only time in 2023, even beat Madrid in the league phase and have strengthened since then.
However the Spanish giants produced their most convincing display of the season just when it mattered most to leave the Premier League visitors stunned.
“(It was) incredible, you dream of nights like this,” Valverde told Movistar.
“It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a game like this. I’m really happy but above all because the team won.”
Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, shorn of injured stars Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo Goes among several others, started 18-year-old midfielder Thiago Pitarch after some recent bright displays.
Arbeloa said he was expecting a surprise or two from former Barca coach Guardiola, and the Catalan selected a particularly attacking line-up, seeking to capitalize on the frailties Madrid have exhibited this season.
Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi made their Champions League debuts and for an all-too-brief period City seemed to be settling in at the Bernabeu, before they unraveled.
“Now it feels really bad, now it feels really dark,” City midfielder Bernardo Silva told TNT Sports.
“Tomorrow is another day and for sure next week we will go to the game thinking we have a chance.”
Madrid took the lead against the run of play when Courtois thumped a long ball down the pitch in Valverde’s direction.
Nico O’Reilly misjudged it and the Madrid midfielder blazed through on goal. City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma came out to try and stop him but Valverde nipped around him and rolled home in the 20th minute.
Seven minutes later Madrid’s captain struck again. Vinicius Junior fed the midfielder who coolly drilled past Donnarumma to double the hosts’ lead.
Best for last
After a difficult first half of the season, consigned to playing at right-back mostly under Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa’s arrival in January has unleashed Valverde.
The 27-year-old snatched a last-gasp winner at Celta Vigo in La Liga on Friday and said that victory was one which had raised the team’s morale.
It appeared he was grasping for optimism ahead of the City clash in which most imagined Madrid to be underdogs, but Los Blancos played like a side who had found belief again.
Valverde completed a first career hat-trick before half-time with the best of his three strikes.
Valverde neatly flicked Brahim Diaz’s pass over the helpless Guehi and then volleyed home with aplomb as the Bernabeu crowd roared in delight. Finally they saw a Madrid they recognized, dynamic and, above all, competitive.
Diaz nearly netted a fourth soon after half-time but Donnarumma denied him, with City continuing to struggle after the interval.
Vinicius should have, after the Italian goalkeeper brought him down in the box, but Donnarumma read the Brazilian’s intentions and saved his low penalty.
Man City’s top scorer Haaland was kept quiet all night by Madrid center-backs Antonio Rudiger and Dean Huijsen, with Guardiola replacing him even while chasing a goal.
Instead City’s best chance to pull one back fell to O’Reilly as Pitarch’s focus waned, but Courtois made a stunning reaction save with his leg to deny him and secure a precious clean sheet.
“The feelings we were getting from outside were not of much confidence in this team, (but) we showed we’re Real Madrid and you can never count us out,” a proud Arbeloa told Movistar.
