Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund engaged in epic brawl for title

Chuck Smith
Apr 18, 2019
4 min read

Two weeks ago, Der Klassiker displayed how much different both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are compared to the first half of the season. Bayern has been confident, aggressive, and dangerous in the Ruckrunde, while Dortmund has been passive, unsure, and lackluster.

Given all of that, it would appear on the surface that Bayern's one-point lead over Dortmund might just be enough to secure the Bundesliga crown. A closer look at the schedule, however, shows that Die Roten may have a tough time holding off the Black and Yellows.

A look at Bayern Munich's remaining schedule

Bayern will not have it easy. DFB-Pokal commitments aside, Bayern will have a rugged slate of games to wade through on its way to securing a seventh consecutive Bundesliga title.

Werder Bremen: Die Werderaner will be a formidable opponent for Bayern in many ways, but when seeing that the teams will play twice in the span of five days (one in the league, one in the DFB-Pokal), Bayern could be in for some trouble. Werder Bremen has a good mix of youth and veterans and while the squad is nowhere near as polished as Bayern, it has shown the great ability to have no fear of the opposition. Expect Werder Bremen to give Bayern hell in at least one of those games.

FC Nurnberg: Barring three buses being parked on the field, Bayern should storm right through Der Club.

Hannover 96: Hannover has been horrid all season. This should be another laugher for Bayern.

RB Leipzig: Ah, here is the first major test for Bayern. Leipzig has a good corps to hurt Bayern on the counter attack and could give Die Roten fits with its pace and relentless ability to attack. The question always remains with RB Leipzig: Which team will show up? The confident group of word beaters or the roster whose lack of focus and attention to detail gave it an early exit from the Europa League? This may be a long shot, but I am predicting that Bayern announced the summer transfer of Timo Werner in the week preceding this game in hopes of creating just enough distraction to help gain an edge over Die Roten Bullen.

Eintracht Frankfurt: Another very tough match for Bayern as it will face the dynamic trio of Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller, and Ante Rebic. Frankfurt is strong, fast, and explosive -- and can be a nightmare for opposing defenders. One advantage that Bayern will have, however, is that Niko Kovac will know how to exploit the weaknesses of his former team and take advantage of some tendencies that his former star players have shown over the years. It won't be easy for Bayern, but the Bavarians may be more equipped to handle Die Adler than RB Leipzig.

A look at Borussia Dortmund's remaining schedule

Borussia Dortmund's upcoming schedule might not be nearly as imposing as Bayern's run of games, but it could present some challenges nonetheless.

SC Freiburg: Breisgau-Brasilianer is either really good or really bad. There is rarely a happy medium for Freiburg. With Christian Streich at the helm, there is always the chance that Freiburg may be able to contrive a game plan to frustrate BVB. That said, Dortmund will enter this game as a heavy favorite and should be expected to come away with a victory just based on the roster talent alone.

Schalke 04: The only thing that could potentially make this a "close match" is that it's the Revierderby. Otherwise, this looks like BVB could rack up four or five goals. Perhaps Schalke will be able to ramp up its effort for this game but I wouldn't exactly hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

Werder Bremen: Ah, now this game could be dangerous for Dortmund. Die Werderaner could present an interesting challenge to BVB. Max Kruse, Milot Rashica, Max Eggestein, and company could have the right mix of players to at least churn out a draw, which would not exactly be a killer, but also would not help Dortmund.

Fortuna Dusseldorf: If F95 can get healthy, it could present a bit of a challenge to Dortmund, but it would still be a long shot. Dortmund would have to come out flat and unmotivated to drop points here.

Borussia Monchengladbach: This match-up certainly had more appeal when the Ruckrunde started. Since then, M'Gladbach has been in extremely poor form and is currently playing itself permanently out of a European slot. Also, captain Lars Stindl was lost for the season and Thorgan Hazard is embroiled in a transfer drama as his advisory team attempts to pave his way to Dortmund for the 2019/2020 season. In addition, it was announced that RB Salzburg coach Marco Rose will be taking over for Dieter Hecking next season, making Hecking a lame duck for the rest of this season and risking further loss of the locker room. Simply put, Die Fohlen could be headed to the glue factory by the season's final weekend.

Overall analysis

One thing is for sure, Bayern has the harder role of the two teams as we enter the final stretch of the season. It will not be easy for Die Roten to capture its seventh consecutive league title, but the feeling here is that Bayern will be able to power through a treacherous set of fixtures to end the season.

I'd expect to Dortmund to make this come right down to the final weekend and don't expect BVB to have any slip-ups unless Werder Bremen can frustrate Dortmund into a collapse.