Bayern’s Harry Kane celebrates after scoring in the course of the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and SV Darmstadt 98 on the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
However Harry Kane imagined making ready for his first “Klassiker” for Bayern Munich in opposition to Borussia Dortmund, it in all probability did not contain shedding to a third-division crew.
The England captain watched on as an unused substitute as Bayern was knocked out of the German Cup 2-1 by Saarbruecken on Wednesday in one of many competitors’s greatest ever upsets. Bayern now has to show it round to play Dortmund on Saturday.
It wasn’t simply an embarrassing loss that knocked Bayern out of competition for a trophy. Matthijs de Ligt suffered a partial knee ligament tear within the sport, leaving the crew with a spot in protection, and Thomas Müller indicated a doable rift within the squad when he publicly criticized teammates for disrespecting the followers.
Even at Bayern, the place anybody loss tends to tip the membership into disaster mode, that is lots to take care of.
All the extra so for Kane in his first “Klassiker” in entrance of Dortmund’s famed — and loud — “Yellow Wall” of followers. Kane indicated final week that his expertise of the North London rivalry between Tottenham and Arsenal may turn out to be useful.
“It’s going to be a tough match. Obviously Dortmund have started well this year as well. It’ll be my first one but I’ve played in a lot of derby games, rival games so I’m looking forward to it,” Kane mentioned Saturday after scoring a hat trick in Bayern’s 8-0 win over Darmstadt. “I’m sure it’ll be a great atmosphere from both teams.”
History is on Bayern’s side against Dortmund — it hasn’t lost to its rival since 2019 — but de Ligt’s injury leaves coach Thomas Tuchel scrambling to patch together the defense. Bayern said Thursday that a scan showed de Ligt had a partial tear in a ligament in his right knee and that he would miss “upcoming games,” with out giving a timeline for his return. De Ligt had solely final month returned from one other knee harm he picked up in September.
Tuchel mentioned Wednesday the harm was “very painful” and now he needs to find someone in the squad to partner Kim Min-jae in the center of defense. Midfielder Joshua Kimmich stepped in against Saarbruecken, but is suspended for the Dortmund game. Tuchel could try to rush Dayot Upamecano back from his hamstring injury, and while he has done some training, he hasn’t played in nearly a month.
Bayern doesn’t have any other fit central defenders in its first team, and the right-backs who could have covered that role last season, Benjamin Pavard and Josip Stanisic, were allowed to leave the club in the offseason.
Dortmund’s new pragmatic approach this season, dubbed “less sexy, more success,” by coach Edin Terzic, was on present in opposition to Hoffenheim on Wednesday within the crew’s third 1-0 win in 4 video games. That mentioned, a 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday noticed the return of a number of the panicky defending that Terzic has sought to remove.
In the Bayern locker room, in the meantime, Müller’s criticism of his teammates may additionally make for some uneasy conversations. Traditionally, the entire crew goes as much as the stands to thank the followers regardless of the outcome, however solely Müller and some others did so Wednesday. The 34-year-old ahead, a Bayern participant for the reason that age of 10, instructed German TV there would have to be a dialogue within the crew about “why our fans are rightfully upset.”
“A tough defeat for us tonight. It’s difficult to swallow it and focus on Saturday right now. I want to apologize to our fans for the team behavior after the match. We should stay together and show some respect for you guys,” Müller added later in an Instagram post. “Maybe the Klassiker is the perfect matchup to get the things right.”
Source web site: www.thehindu.com
