WFootball: Dortmund-Bayern Fallout
 

Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich: 5 Things We Learned About the Bundesliga Title Race

Bleachersreport 12 April 2012
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Barring a disaster, the Bundesliga belongs to Borussia Dortmund.
Now the question is: How long will they hold it?

Dortmund defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 at home Wednesday night to move six points clear atop the Bundesliga table with four matches left. Jurgen Klopp's men need only six more points to claim their second-straight title.
With reinforcements already secured this summer, Dortmund find themselves in a strong position for the future.
First, though, here are five things we learned about the current title race from Wednesday's match.

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It's (All But) Over


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Bayern remain mathematically alive, but the title race in Germany is, for practical purposes, finished.
Thanks to their recent five-game winning streak in the league, a win for the visitors would have drawn them level with Dortmund. A draw would have sustained the drama for at least another weekend.
But it's hard to see even Bayern recovering from such a hole—six points with just four matches left—in such a short time.

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Here for the Long Haul?


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Is it too early to install Dortmund as the favorites for next season's Bundesliga as well?

After doing the double over Bayern this season, Dortmund appear to have figured out how to beat their more illustrious rivals on the pitch.

Off the pitch, they're showing they can compete as well.

The addition of Marco Reus from Borussia Monchengladbach will clearly help Dortmund next season. The same could be said for the return and further development of Mario Götze, who had been linked with several elite clubs before suffering a long-term injury in January.

This season, Dortmund have set a club record by going 24 matches (and counting) unbeaten in league play. What will they do for an encore?

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The Moments Went Dortmund's Way

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In every title race, there are certain moments that, in hindsight, prove decisive. On Wednesday, all those moments favored Dortmund.

For 76 minutes, two evenly-matched teams battled to a stalemate. In the 77th minute, a moment of magic from Robert Lewandowski turned the tide in favor of Dortmund.
After a Dortmund corner, Kevin Großkreutz sent a low shot on goal from the edge of the box. With his back to goal, Lewandowski redirected the ball away from Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer—who would have easily saved the original shot—and into the net.
Eight minutes later, in-form Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben hit what could turn out to be the worst penalty of his career, a soft effort that Roman Weidenfeller had no trouble saving.
And in stoppage time, Robben missed an open net.
Nine times out of 10, Robben would have scored that penalty. And 99 times out of 100, he would have scored in that open net.
But he didn't, and now Dortmund are the presumptive champions.

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Bayern Need Schweinsteiger

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We all knew this already, but Bayern are a different team with and without Bastian Schweinsteiger.

In the first half, with Schweinsteiger on the bench, Bayern's midfield looked lost. The visitors gave away possession too easily, allowing too many Dortmund attacks, and came out second best in too many tackles.

Schweinsteiger entered the match in the 61st minute, and his presence steadied the midfield. Unfortunately for Bayern, it didn't do anything to help his team in the final third.

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The Real Winner Is…

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Borussia Dortmund will probably win the title, but the real winner from Wednesday night's match was the German national team.
Both clubs are stocked with German internationals and all those players will take this experience with them to Euro 2012 this summer.
Wednesday's match provided an intense, cup final-type atmosphere and the tight title race has served to harden all the players in the crucible of prolonged competition.
If everyone can get healthy—from Bayern's Schweinsteiger to Dortmund's Gotze—Germany will be a force this summer.