According to football expert Dietmar Hamann, Manuel Neuer hasn’t been completely convincing recently. From his point of view, the FC Bayern goalkeeper can even become an opportunity for BVB. With a view to the top game, the Dortmunders just have to learn from their ideas.
Dietmar Hamann sees Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as a possible weak point for Munich ahead of the Bundesliga leaders’ top game at Borussia Dortmund. “There have been several situations this year where Neuer was to blame for goals or where he was lucky, like in Bochum that Minjae Kim scratched the ball off the line,” said the football expert at a press conference on Sky broadcaster. “That means when you play balls over the heads of the defense: his timing has let him down once or twice.”
Looking at Neuer scenes like the 1-0 win in the Champions League against Paris St. Germain, when the long-time German national goalkeeper came wide out of his goal, Hamann said: “On Tuesday he had two or three situations where that The whole stadium held its breath and there was no distress. It was absolutely unnecessary to take such a risk there.” Referring to BVB, the 51-year-old added: “That’s certainly something if you have four fast players up front where you’ll get one or two chances. “
Although Bayern go into Saturday’s game ten points ahead of fifth-placed BVB (6.30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker), Hamann does not see the Revierklub as having a chance after recent convincing victories in the Bundesliga and Champions League – on the contrary. “They have a really good chance,” said the former Munich player. “I think they won’t lose,” he said, predicting a 2-2 draw.
BVB best home team, FC Bayern best away team
From the point of view of Borussia Dortmund’s managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke, the duel is the ultimate in the Bundesliga. “This is the game with the two clubs that have by far the most appeal in Germany. And if you don’t recognize that, you should go to an ophthalmologist,” Watzke told Sky.
“Go abroad and then ask who the two German lighthouses are. Then you get exactly this answer 98.9 percent of the time, maybe even 100 percent of the time,” said Watzke. Watzke explained that champions Bayer Leverkusen cannot come close to the two clubs either. “I have huge respect for what Leverkusen did last year and they have a great team, it’s a great club. But we are Borussia Dortmund, that is Bayern Munich, and we already know our importance,” he explained.
In the 111th duel between the two, the best away team will play against the best home team. FC Bayern got 16 of the 18 possible points away from home, and Dortmund even got all 18 points at home. In addition, 18 of the 22 goals came at home. Across all seasons and competitions, BVB has even won the last eleven games in their own arena; since the Bundesliga was founded more than 60 years ago, Borussia have only had a longer such series once (14 home wins in a row in 1994 under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld).
But: Dortmund hasn’t won a Bundesliga home game against Munich in more than six years (most recently 3-2 in November 2018 under Lucien Favre). Overall, BVB has triumphed in only one of the last eleven Bundesliga classics (one draw, 9 defeats); in the last meeting in March 2024 there was a 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena (goals: Karim Adeyemi and Julian Ryerson).
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