Even in a season of upheaval for Bayern Munich, DW's Matt Ford says two things remain constant. Borussia Dortmund seemingly can't even put up a fight on the road in Munich, and Robert Lewandowski torments his old club.
Advertisement
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
A departing club president, an interim coach, inconsistent performances, a makeshift defense, a squad in transition and allegations of player power; there is a great deal of uncertainty around Bayern Munich these days.
Fortunately, no matter how bad things get, there are two constants that the Bavarians can always count on: Borussia Dortmund surrendering in Munich and Robert Lewandowski scoring goals.
Just one week after the dismissal of Niko Kovac, the Bundesliga fixture list handed interim boss Hansi Flick a debut league game in which comfortable Bayern victories are as good as certain these days. After 2-1, 5-1, 4-1, 6-0 and 5-0 victories in the previous five editions of this fixture, Bayern added a 4-0 win in Saturday evening's so-called German "Klassiker" – a moniker which is slowly becoming ridiculous.
But even more remarkable than the predictability of a Black and Yellow collapse in the Allianz Arena is the consistency of Lewandowski this season. The statistics are frankly unbelievable:
The Polish hit-man has found the net at least once in every single game this season in all competitions (except Bochum in the cup), including each of Bayern's first 11 Bundesliga games — a league record.
His record against Dortmund is particularly impressive, his brace on Saturday making it 14 league goals against his former club. Add the one goal he scored as a Dortmund player against Bayern and it's 15 – a record in this fixture after he overtook Gerd Müller's 13.
DW's Matt Ford
And yet Lewandowski's importance to Bayern Munich goes beyond his goal-scoring exploits; he is just as consistent in his demands for perfection as well.
When Bayern were beginning their search for long-term replacements for Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, it was Lewandowski who publicly demanded big names and top quality to match his own expectations.
Even when many of his teammates, particularly some of the more experienced members of the squad, were critical of Niko Kovac's training and tactics and appeared to down tools and turn against their coach, Lewandowski kept his thoughts to himself and kept doing the business on the pitch. He even scored the consolation in the 5-1 defeat in Frankfurt last week, a determined solo effort which embodied his insatiable hunger for success.
In the coming months, there are big decisions to be made in Munich regarding the head coach, the club president, the chief executive and the future make-up of the first team squad.
But even in such a period of uncertainty, Bayern will always be able to count on Dortmund demolitions and a Pole in front of goal.
Bundesliga Matchday 11 in pictures
Robert Lewandowski maintained his record of scoring in every league game this season as Bayern thrashed Dortmund again. Elsewhere, it was a poignant afternoon in Berlin there was a thriller in Gelsenkirchen.
Image: AFP/O. Andersen
Hertha Berlin 2-4 RB Leipzig
On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hertha assembled a wall across the field in the build-up of the visit of RB Leipzig, a poignant reminder of the history of the city. On the field, the hosts went ahead with a Maximilian Mittelstädt rocket, but failed to capitalize. Timo Werner's brace and a goal each for Marcel Sabitzer and Kevin Kampl made it a handsome win for the visitors.
Image: AFP/O. Andersen
Bayern Munich 4-0 Borussia Dortmund
Robert Lewandowski scored his 15th and 16th Bundesliga goals of the season as Bayern Munich dished out another heavy defeat of Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena. Lewandowski's header opened the scoring, and Serge Gnabry made it two shortly after the break. Lewandowski's second made it three, before a late Mats Hummels own goal compounded Dortmund's misery.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
Schalke 3-3 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Rouwen Hennings scored a hat-trick as Fortuna Düsseldorf fought back three times to secure a point against Schalke in one of the games of the season so far. Daniel Caligiuri, Ozan Kabak and Suat Serdar each scored for Schalke, but each time Hennings leveled for the visitors, who richly deserved their point in this six-goal thriller.
Image: picture-alliance/Fotostand/Wundrig
Paderborn 0-1 Augsburg
Augsburg picked up a huge win in the battle of the two cellar dwellers, holding their nerve to win in Paderborn, who missed an early penalty. That moment in the seventh minute proved crucial, as Tomas Koubek saved from Klaus Gjasula. The winning goal came four minutes before half-time, courtesy of Philipp Max. Paderborn remain rooted to the bottom of the table, while Augsburg climb to 15th.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Inderlied
Mainz 2-3 Union Berlin
Sebastian Andersson struck twice as Union Berlin beat struggling Mainz, despite a late rally by the hosts. Coming off the back of victory in the Berlin derby, Union took the lead through a Daniel Brosinksi own goal. Andersson added a second on the stroke of half-time and added another soon after the break. Karim Onisiwo and Brosinksi scored in the final 10 minutes, but Union held on.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Grimm
Cologne 1-2 Hoffenheim
Referee Robert Kampka can hardly have been the toast of Cologne at full time in this one. The struggling hosts put up a fierce fight — a rarity so far this season — and took the lead in the first half. But Hoffenheim drew level, and were then awarded a VAR penalty deep into stoppage time. Jürgen Locadia converted. Cologne's notorious technological curse rolls on.
Image: picture-alliance/RHR-FOTO/D. Ewert
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 Werder Bremen
The home side looked like the better team from the get-go, and it took Ramy Bensebaini 20 minutes to score the first for Marco Rose’s side. Patrick Herrmann added Gladbach’s second just two minutes afterwards, with the captain adding another one on the 59th minute. Leo Bittencourt’s consolation goal hardly changed much. Gladbach open a four-point lead on top of the Bundesliga table.
Image: Imago Images/Sven Simon/A. Waelischmiller
Wolfsburg 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Peter Bosz is known for his attacking tactics, but it was Leverkusen’s defence that made all the difference against Wolfsburg. It wasn’t the most brilliant of games, but goals through Karim Bellarabi (25’) and Paulinho (90’) were enough to secure the three points. Second win in a row for Leverkusen
Image: Imago Images/J. Sielski
Freiburg 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt's Gelson Fernandez saw the red card in the first half. But it took Freiburg until the 77th minute to capitalize. Nils Petersen’s accurate shot left keeper Rönnow no chance. Eintracht captain David Abraham was sent off before the final whistle for body-checking Freiburg coach Christian Streich, while Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo saw the red card for his reaction from the bench.