Thomas Tuchel's Bayern Munich reign has got off to a perfect start with a 4-2 victory over Bundesliga title rivals Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker this afternoon, a result which sees his new side leapfrog their visitors at the top of the table.
The defending champions blitzed their fiercest challengers in a dominant first-half display, racing into a 3-0 lead inside the opening 23 minutes to effectively put the game to bed with just a quarter of the game gone.
A horrendous Gregor Kobel error for the opening goal set the tone for a miserable start to the game for the visitors, who never looked like recovering as they were blown away by a mixture of their own mistakes and Bayern's brilliance.
The evergreen Thomas Muller helped himself to a 25th Bundesliga brace or better, before Kingsley Coman added a fourth early in the second half to ensure that Emre Can's 72nd-minute penalty and Donyell Malen's late second were mere consolations.
Indeed, the visitors' two late goals mean that the final scoreline flattered Dortmund more than it did Bayern, who move back to their customary position at the top of the standings, now two points clear of Dortmund.
The hosts had surprisingly sacked Julian Nagelsmann during the international break despite having lost just twice across all competitions since September, moving quickly to appoint former Dortmund boss Tuchel as his successor.
There was no time wasted in getting the Tuchel era up and running against his former club either, although the opening goal came in bizarre circumstances as Manchester United-linked goalkeeper Kobel inexplicably missed an attempted clearance to turn Dayot Upamecano's aimless and seemingly harmless long pass forward into a goal from the centre-back from inside his own half.
A HUGE BLUNDER FROM KOBEL IN DER KLASSIKER 😲 pic.twitter.com/4PDuOTpUii
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) April 1, 2023
That began a devastating collapse which saw Bayern take the game away from their nearest title challengers with three goals in 10 minutes, although Dortmund will feel that every goal was as much down to their own poor defending as good play from the hosts.
Muller grabbed both of them, first nudging Matthijs de Ligt's downward header over the line from close range with his thigh and then finding himself in the right place at the right time once again to convert a rebound after Kubel had spilled an effort from Leroy Sane.
With just 23 minutes on the clock it looked as though Dortmund could be heading for an embarrassment on a similar scale to the one they suffered the last time they topped the Bundesliga table this late in the season, when they were beaten 5-0 at the Allianz Arena in 2018-19.
However, despite Bayern looking threatening every time they came forward, Edin Terzic's side managed to stem the tide and avoided any further damage before half time.
The second half was only five minutes old before their net was breached once again, though, this time Coman sliding home to convert a defence-splitting pass from Sane inside the box.
© Reuters
Even Tuchel's decision to rest some players with the win in the bag offered little sign of Bayern relenting, with Serge Gnabry, Sadio Mane, Jamal Musiala and Joao Cancelo among the players introduced off the bench to underline the home side's strength in depth.
However, it was Gnabry who handed Dortmund their first chance to salvage a slither of pride when he tripped Jude Bellingham inside the area just three minutes after his introduction, allowing Can to convert from the spot.
One of Dortmund's two half-time changes then pulled another goal back in the final minute of normal time as Malen sent a bobbling finish into the bottom corner despite not catching his shot cleanly.
Bayern were far more superior than the two-goal difference in the final scoreline suggests, though, with the victory the latest in a growing line of dominance against Germany's number two club.
The champions are now unbeaten in each of the last 10 editions of Der Klassiker, winning nine of those, while they have won nine in a row at the Allianz Arena.
The defeat is Dortmund's first in the league since before the international break, and they must now look to bounce back quickly ahead of a big week which sees them face RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal and fellow title challengers Union Berlin in the league next weekend.
Bayern are also in cup action in midweek, hosting Freiburg on Tuesday before facing the same opponents away from home in the league four days later.
Barney Corkhill
