Bayern Munich 2–2 Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings: Spoils Shared in the Der Klassiker as the Title Race Stays Alive

It was a thoroughly entertaining evening at the Allianz Arena, as the score ended 2-2 on level terms in the Der Klassiker, thanks to goals from Raphael Guerreiro and Serge Gnabry for the hosts, Maximilian Beier and Waldemar Anton for the visitors. Bayern, despite dropping points, maintains their position at the top of the league with a six-point lead over Bayer Leverkusen, whilst Borussia Dortmund sits at eighth place with 42 points, six points away from Champions League football.

Injury-riddled Bayern, missing key players such as Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano, Hiroki Ito, Jamal Musiala, and Manuel Neuer, is ruled out. As a result, Vincent Kompany handed a start to the veteran Thomas Muller for his last Der Klassiker. On the other hand, Dortmund were missing the services of Nico Schlotterbeck and Marcel Sabitzer. Kovac went with a different setup, with Guirassy and Beier starting up front, while Adeyemi and Gittens both dropped to the bench.

Both teams started nervously, losing possession. But, despite Dortmund getting the first proper chance, it was Bayern who slowly grew into the game, consistently testing the defense of the visitors. Harry Kane almost scored one, but Kobel just managed to parry it out.

The attacks continued as Stanisic also got another opportunity to head one in, but he failed to do so. Another fantastic chance came for the hosts as Harry Kane set Olise up fantastically on a counter, but the latter’s effort was saved by Kobel. Dortmund’s tactic to sit deep to deny Bayern worked, as the half ended goalless.

While everyone expected Bayern to continue their dominance, surprisingly, against the run of play, a fantastic cross from Ryerson met Maximilian Beier, who headed it in splendidly to give Dortmund a lead.

This completely changed the tone of the game, as Bayern frantically tried to chase for the equalising goal. But, after some substitutions, Bayern equalised after Gnabry found Muller, who set up Guerreiro as he fired it into the top corner exquisitely. Another goal followed almost immediately as it was Gnabry again who advanced forward and then curled it with a brilliant finish. The tone of the game changed again, this time the hosts taking control back.

But, a goal came out of nowhere for Dortmund, as a weak parry from Urbig falls into the path of Anton, who thumped it in. Bayern then created three chances in a space of one minute, but a poor finish from Harry Kane undid all that effort.

While Dortmund got two chances, similarly, on the other end, they failed to convert. Bayern continued their poor outing in front of the goal as Michael Olise was spoonfed a golden chance to finish things off, which he failed to do, thus ending the Bundesliga game 2-2.

Both teams will prepare ahead for their second legs of the UEFA Champions League quarter finals, as Bayern will be travelling to play against Inter Milan at San Siro whereas Borussia Dortmund will host Barcelona at their home.

Here are the Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund player ratings.

Bayern Munich Player Ratings

GK- Jonas Urbig – 5/10

He was not tested a lot initially, but once Dortmund found their feet and started attacking, his inexperience came into display as he could have saved the opening goal of the evening and could have done better for the second goal.

LB- Josip Stanisic – 6.5/10

Despite starting as a fullback, he played in some advanced positions tonight, causing different types of problems to the backline than Bayern’s other attackers. He got a golden chance to head one in, which he missed. But he will be happy with an assist in his bag.

CB- Eric Dier – 6/10

While there were some moments of lapse in judgment, his overall performance was solid as he looked calm and composed on and off the ball.

CB- Kim Min Jae – 4.5/10

While he looked comfortable passing the ball around to retain possession, he struggled a bit defensively, especially in aerial duels, which cost his side.

RB- Konrad Laimer – 6/10

He was menacing in attack in some situations, especially as his fantastic cross into the box almost turned out as an assist for their opening goal.

CM- Joshua Kimmich – 6.5/10

The heart of the midfield, he was stringing passes from the deep, assisting well during the buildup play.

CM- Leon Goretzka – 6.5/10

A workhorse display, where he ran tirelessly, broke dangerous plays, recovered possession, and almost got his name onto the scoresheet too.

CAM- Thomas Muller – 7/10

The veteran attacking midfielder was proactive with his movement and did a fantastic job of creating many chances to his side with his link-up play. He earned himself an assist in his final Der Klassiker

LW- Leroy Sane – 5/10

One of his worst games so far, as he was inconsistent and did not pose a major threat. He was rightfully subbed off in the second half.

ST- Harry Kane – 5.5/10

While he was a decent threat, dropping deep and pinging passes out to assist other attackers. But, he was very poor in front of the goal, as he fluffed plenty of chances to give his side a goal.

RW- Michael Olise – 6.5/10

He was a dangerous threat tonight, making multiple dangerous runs, some skillful passes, and almost got his name on the scoresheet. rightfully ended the evening with two assists in his bag.

SUB- Raphaël Guerreiro – 7.5/10

He entered the pitch as part of an attacking substitution and repaid the faith with a well-taken goal to equalise.

SUB- Aleksandar Pavlovic – 5.5/10

The young midfielder entered the pitch to help his side for a successful result. But his lack of fitness was visible as he struggled to retain the ball under pressure.

SUB- Serge Gnabry – 8/10

The attacker played a key role in the turnaround, with a huge involvement in the first goal and taking his chance extremely well for the second.

SUB- Kingsley Coman – NA

The attacker replaced the captain, Thomas Muller, to find the winning goal for his side.

Manager- Vincent Kompany – 6.5/10

While his side created plenty of chances, the forwards were impotent, thereby undoing a lot of hard work. Despite conceding first, his substitutions played a key role in turning the game around. In the end, the title race is still not over, so he can put this behind him and focus ahead.

Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings

GK- Gregor Kobel – 7/10

The goalkeeper played a key role in maintaining the clean sheet, pulling off some spectacular saves to keep his side in the game.

CB- Niklas Sule – 6/10

A solid display from him, as he did well to cut the attacks off cleverly, reading the game well.

CB- Waldemar Anton – 6/10

While he held up well against the Bayern attack, he almost put the ball into his net while defending, which would have been fatal.

CB- Emre Can – 6/10

The best defender of the back three, as he looked comfortable while defending, and his passing under pressure looked excellent too.

RB- Julian Ryerson – 7/10

The fullback was quite defensive-oriented in the first half, but his fantastic cross in the second half gave his team the lead.

LB- Daniel Svensson – 6.5/10

He played a key role in multiple attacks as a lot of them went through the left flank today evening.

CM- Pascal Gross- 6/10

The deep-lying playmaker was not his usual self today, as his presence was not that visible with his passes. But he got a fantastic chance late in the game to give his side the lead, which he failed to utilise properly.

CM – Salih Özcan – 6/10

The defensive midfielder did not hesitate to play dirty, making some key tackles whenever needed, and also drove the ball forward into some dangerous positions.

CAM- Julian Brandt – 6.5/10

His shot early in the game was the only real chance they had in the first half. Outside of that, there were sprinkles of his creative presence.

ST- Serhou Guirassy – 6.4/10

The forward did not get a lot of service, despite making some good runs as his side were playing on the back foot.

ST- Maximilian Beier – 7.5/10

A quiet first half as he spent the majority in defense, but he took his chance extremely well with the header to give his team the lead.

SUB- Carney Chukwuemeka – 6.5/10

The young midfielder entered the pitch as part of an attacking change to turn things around.

SUB- Felix Nmecha – 6/10

The midfielder entered the pitch to restore balance to the midfield battle and help his side to find a goal.

SUB- Ramy Bensebaini – NA

The full-back entered with minutes to spare to defend the flank and provide some attacking support if needed.

SUB- Karim Adeyemi – NA

The pacy forward entered the pitch to take advantage of weary defenders to find the winner.

Manager- Niko Kovac – 7.5/10

Arguably their toughest domestic fixture on the calendar, his side did a fantastic job defensively. His substitutions played a key role in making sure that they got the desired result.

The Sportsdunia Player of the Match goes to Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller.