Die Klassiker was the match on everyone’s mind even if Saturday’s matchup between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund wasn’t for much outside of Bundesliga bragging rights.
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And after paying it plenty of lip service, Bayern backed it up. The big game went the way of the league leaders.
Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Bayern Munich
Robert Lewandowski scored in the 36th minute as Bayern kept its 10-point table lead in tact with a 1-0 win at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.
Marco Reus had a prime chance to level in the 61st minute, but lashed an off-balance shot wide of the left post. And Mats Hummels, who played down the match at midweek, missed a prime late chance to the left of the 18.
Reus’ 88th minute free kick was saved with power by Manuel Neuer, and that was the last true threat for BVB, which could be nine points out of fifth place come Sunday night.
Hoffenheim 1-4 Borussia Monchengladbach
The bevy of American writers who are critical with Jurgen Klinsmann for playing Fabian Johnson at left mid haven’t been watching Monchengladbach’s man thrive there in the Bundesliga.
Johnson played a tidy game on the left against his former team, passing and moving well as his side kept pace with winning Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen to stay third in Germany’s top flight, seven points back of the former and two ahead of the latter.
Patrick Hermann scored a pair of goals in the win, while Max Kruse and Raffael helped Monchen off to a 3-1 halftime lead.
Wolfsburg 3-1 Stuttgart
Ricardo Rodriguez’s fifth and sixth goals of the season led Wolfsburg to an easy-enough win over Stuttgart, and Andre Schurrle added an insurance tally late.
Elsewhere
Werder Bremen 0-0 Mainz — 41,000 people saw 7 total shots on goal.
Freiburg 1-0 Koln — Mike Frantz nets winner in 37th minute.
Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Hamburg — Braces for Gonzalo Castro, Stefan Kiessling.
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Hannover — Chandler goes 90 as hosts blow 2-0 lead.
Augsburg vs. Schalke — 930 a.m. ET Sunday.
Hertha Berlin vs. Paderborn — 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday.
Standings |
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Bayern Munich | 27 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 71 | 13 | 58 | 11-1-1 | 10-3-1 | 67 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 27 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 60 | 30 | 30 | 12-2-0 | 5-4-4 | 57 |
| Mönchen | 27 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 41 | 21 | 20 | 9-3-1 | 5-5-4 | 50 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 27 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 49 | 29 | 20 | 7-6-1 | 6-3-4 | 48 |
| FC Schalke 04 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 31 | 6 | 8-4-2 | 3-2-7 | 39 |
| FC Augsburg | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 33 | 34 | -1 | 8-2-3 | 4-0-9 | 38 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 42 | -1 | 8-2-4 | 2-5-6 | 37 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 51 | 54 | -3 | 7-4-3 | 2-4-7 | 35 |
| Werder Bremen | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 54 | -13 | 6-4-4 | 3-4-6 | 35 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 27 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 5-3-5 | 4-3-7 | 33 |
| FSV Mainz 05 | 27 | 6 | 13 | 8 | 35 | 36 | -1 | 4-6-3 | 2-7-5 | 31 |
| 1. FC Köln | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 26 | 33 | -7 | 2-7-4 | 5-2-7 | 30 |
| Hertha BSC Berlin | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 31 | 44 | -13 | 5-2-6 | 3-3-7 | 29 |
| SC Freiburg | 27 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 27 | 36 | -9 | 4-6-4 | 2-4-7 | 28 |
| Hannover 96 | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 44 | -13 | 5-2-6 | 2-5-7 | 28 |
| Hamburger SV | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 16 | 41 | -25 | 4-4-5 | 2-3-9 | 25 |
| SC Paderborn | 26 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 23 | 50 | -27 | 3-5-5 | 2-4-7 | 24 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 27 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 28 | 49 | -21 | 2-3-8 | 3-5-6 | 23 |