Man of the Match: His last three goals proved to be the final margin, and having played a small role of the build up for Borussia Dortmund’s first, Robert Lewandowski is the obvious vote. After posting nine goals last season (his first after moving from Lech Poznan), Lewandowski finishes this season with 30 (all-competitions). His first two were smooth (if powerful) finishes that, while the third was a bit of a gift.
Packaged for takeaway:
- Bayern’s now lost five in a row to Dortmund, outscored 12-4 in the process. Three of those losses came this year – one home, one away, and one at a neutral site. Bayern may be in next weekend’s Champions League final, but there’s little doubt which team is Germany’s best.
- Like many cup finals, this one featured a cagey start. Bayern controlled possession, though little came of it, even after the teams exchanged a pair of odds goals. The opener from Dortmund attacker Shingi Kagawa came after a Byaern midfielder Luiz Gustavo backpass for everybody and nobody led to a shot at an open net from 17 yards out. The second saw Bayern striker Mario Gomez go in alone on BVB `keeper Roman Weidenfeller, drawing a penalty (converted by Arjen Robben) after incorrectly being ruled un-trapped by Dortmund 38 yards out.
- Toward the end of the first, Dortmund pressure and opportunism started dictating the match. While there was some fortunate in BVB’s second (a shot deflecting off Kagawa, sending the defense scurrying, leading to Jerome Boateng bringing down a man), the third and fourth saw Bayern’s defense taken apart. Each time, Dortmund finished sequences by finding Lewandowski with tons of space in the middle of the area, the young Polish international allowed to unload shots Manuel Neuer had little chance to stop.
- Given Bayern’s seven days out from contesting a European title, this is obviously a very disturbing result. Stylistically, Chelsea is very different from Dortmund – the way they create goals is entirely different – but given how Bayern defended on Saturday, that might not matter. The season-long worries about FCB’s central defense that never manifested during the club’s Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid now appear to be justified. It’s unlikely Bayern can win next Saturday if Boateng and Holdger Badstuber play like this. Daniel van Buyten’s return’s looking more vital than anitcipated.
- For Dortmund, there were only two negatives. First, Weidenfeller was forced to leave mid-way through the first with an apparent abdominal strain, the product of an early first half collision with Gomez. Second, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was in attendance, presumably looking a Kagawa ahead of a possible move to Old Trafford.
- Those are but qualms in BVB’s first league-cup double. Even if they lose Kagawa, this is a team that’s primed to push on. While this season say them struggle to manage both their domestic and European aspirations, next year will allow them to leverage their 2011-12’s experiences.
