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 Area in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
| Picture Credit score: AP
Nevertheless Harry Kane imagined getting ready for his first “Klassiker” for Bayern Munich towards Borussia Dortmund, it in all probability did not contain dropping to a third-division workforce.
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 rivalry for a trophy. Matthijs de Ligt suffered a partial knee ligament tear within the sport, leaving the workforce with a niche in protection, and Thomas Müller indicated a potential rift within the squad when he publicly criticized teammates for disrespecting the followers.
Even at Bayern, the place anyone loss tends to tip the membership into disaster mode, that is lots to cope with.
All of 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 tricky match. Clearly Dortmund have began nicely this 12 months as nicely. It’ll be my first one however I’ve performed in plenty of derby video games, rival video games so I’m trying ahead to it,” Kane stated Saturday after scoring a hat trick in Bayern’s 8-0 win over Darmstadt. “I’m certain it’ll be an amazing ambiance from each groups.”
Historical past is on Bayern’s aspect towards Dortmund — it hasn’t misplaced to its rival since 2019 — however de Ligt’s damage leaves coach Thomas Tuchel scrambling to patch collectively the protection. Bayern stated Thursday {that a} scan confirmed de Ligt had a partial tear in a ligament in his proper knee and that he would miss “upcoming video games,” with out giving a timeline for his return. De Ligt had solely final month returned from one other knee damage he picked up in September.
Tuchel stated Wednesday the damage was “very painful” and now he wants to seek out somebody within the squad to companion Kim Min-jae within the middle of protection. Midfielder Joshua Kimmich stepped in towards Saarbruecken, however is suspended for the Dortmund sport. Tuchel may attempt to rush Dayot Upamecano again from his hamstring damage, and whereas he has performed some coaching, he hasn’t performed in practically a month.
Bayern would not have some other match central defenders in its first workforce, and the right-backs who may have lined that position final season, Benjamin Pavard and Josip Stanisic, have been allowed to depart the membership within the offseason.
Dortmund’s new pragmatic method this season, dubbed “much less attractive, extra success,” by coach Edin Terzic, was on present towards Hoffenheim on Wednesday within the workforce’s third 1-0 win in 4 video games. That stated, a 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday noticed the return of a few of the panicky defending that Terzic has sought to eradicate.
Within the Bayern locker room, in the meantime, Müller’s criticism of his teammates may additionally make for some uneasy conversations. Historically, the entire workforce goes as much as the stands to thank the followers regardless of the consequence, however solely Müller and some others did so Wednesday. The 34-year-old ahead, a Bayern participant because the age of 10, informed German TV there would should be a dialogue within the workforce about “why our followers are rightfully upset.”
“A tricky defeat for us tonight. It’s troublesome to swallow it and deal with Saturday proper now. I need to apologize to our followers for the workforce habits after the match. We must always keep collectively and present some respect for you guys,” Müller added later in an Instagram publish. “Perhaps the Klassiker is the right matchup to get the issues proper.”
