Kane’s Ballon d’Or celebration followed by a 2-2 draw as Bayern and Dortmund remain level on points
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund played out a 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday evening in the Bundesliga’s Der Klassiker, a fixture that followed Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or victory. The result left Dortmund level on points with the defending champions at the top of the table.
The pre-match build-up had been shaped by Kane’s recent award: on the team’s starting lineup board every player performed their individual salute while Kane turned to the camera smiling and cradling the golden trophy. In midweek, during Bayern’s DFB Pokal win over Magdeburg, team-mates formed a guard of honour to mark Kane’s Ballon d’Or. Many expected a celebratory victory lap in front of the global audience that watched the trophy presentation, but Dortmund disrupted those plans.
Match action produced late drama: Serhou Guirassy scored to level at one stage, Dayot Upamecano’s header — set up by Kane — put Bayern back in front, and Fábio Silva struck an 89th-minute equaliser for Dortmund. Kane also missed a penalty that struck the crossbar and hit the post from close range after Upamecano’s strike, reflecting a night of fine margins for Bayern’s No 9.
Kane supplied the assist for Upamecano, completing the defender’s second successive Bundesliga goal, but he also endured frustration from several missed opportunities. This was Kane’s fourth Klassiker at the Allianz Arena and Bayern have won only one of those fixtures. Three years earlier Kane had scored a hat-trick in his first Klassiker at Signal Iduna Park in a 4-0 win, highlighting contrasting outcomes in his matches with Dortmund.
Dortmund’s performance featured a tactical switch to a back four and energetic midfield play, with Jobe Bellingham enjoying what the piece describes as his best performance since arriving last year. Carney Chukwuemeka was involved in a disallowed goal after inadvertently affecting Jonas Urbig in goal, and Ruhr Nachrichten’s Kevin Pinnow described the point as “much more than just a point” for Dortmund. Sporting director Ole Book singled out Bellingham, saying: “He is someone for the big stake,” and added: “He showed that today.”
Bayern emerged from the match with a stretched squad: they were already without Vincent Kompany, who “will not be rushed back into action after his recent hospitalisation,” with assistant Aaron Danks in charge; Danks selected a team missing Luis Díaz, Manuel Neuer and Jamal Musiala. During the game Bayern lost three more forwards: Ismael Saibari suffered ankle ligament damage in a collision with Gregor Kobel and has already had surgery with recovery to last at least three months, Serge Gnabry is expected to miss several weeks with a hamstring injury, and Michael Olise went down with what appeared to be a knee problem.
The Bundesliga produced other notable results: SV Elversberg 4-1 Mainz, Augsburg 1-2 Freiburg, Mönchengladbach 0-0 Paderborn, Schalke 0-2 RB Leipzig, Werder 2-0 Hoffenheim, Leverkusen 2-4 VfB Stuttgart, Union Berlin 1-1 Köln, and Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Hamburg. Stuttgart beat Leverkusen 4-2 with Ermedin Demirovic scoring twice and commenting: “Unfortunately, we can’t play Leverkusen 34 times.” RB Leipzig won 2-0 at Schalke with Antonio Nusa scoring and assisting, while Niclas Füllkrug scored twice for Werder Bremen and extended a run to seven straight Bundesliga games with a goal that equalled Rudi Völler’s 1982-83 record; goalkeeper Karl Hein said: “I’m truly speechless.”
Bayern will head into this week’s Champions League game with Atlético Madrid with only two senior forward players available, Harry Kane and the 18-year-old Lennart Karl, after the injuries sustained on Saturday. With such squad constraints, the club faces a short-term selection challenge for that confirmed upcoming fixture.