Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCMay 29, 2023, 11:38 AM ET
Well, well, well … that was quite the weekend? On Saturday, we had final day drama in the German Bundesliga as Borussia Dortmund let the title slip away and allowed Bayern Munich to claim a remarkable 11th straight title. Then, on Sunday, we had the last day of the 2022-23 Premier League season, with Everton escaping relegation and Aston Villa clinching a spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League at Tottenham’s expense.
It’s Monday, and Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the world of football.
Dortmund self-destruct to throw away Bundesliga, but Bayern aren’t resting on laurels
What sets you apart is how you react. And no, I’m not just talking about Borussia Dortmund’s meltdown that handed Bayern their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title on the final day of the 2022-23 season. I’m talking just as much about how Bayern reacted to the season, firing sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and chief executive Oliver Kahn despite winning the league. (More on them in a minute.)
You have to start with Dortmund. Going into the final day on Saturday, at home to Mainz, they had a two-point lead over Bayern, which meant all they had to do was match or beat Bayern’s result away to Koln. A win would guarantee Dortmund the title, and this was a Mainz side that was in free fall. Yes, they were midtable, but they had also lost four consecutive games, conceding three or more goals in each of them.
You probably know what happened next. Andre Hanche-Olsen beat everybody at the near post to give Mainz the lead. Sebastian Haller missed the penalty that would have levelled the score and restored some semblance of normality. Some of the worst marking you’ll ever see allowed Karim Onisiwo to put Mainz up 2-0 and maybe, that’s when the demons surfaced in the Dortmund heads.
At that stage, a superb Kingsley Coman goal had given Bayern the lead at Koln. Dortmund were chasing. Again. It’s not that they didn’t try — they would end up with 29 shots on goal, 10 of them on target, and an Expected Goals of 3.78 — but that nothing seemed to work. Having failed with their defending, the finishing was messing with their heads. Still, they huffed and they puffed and pulled one back with Raphael Guerreiro and because life is cruel, they got a lifeline from Koln when Dejan Ljubicic equalised for the home team, nine minutes from time.
It meant that they were back in the driver’s seat, they were champions…
… and it lasted all of seven minutes, until Jamal Musiala‘s darting run and finish put Bayern ahead 2-1 on the day and gave them 71 points to Dortmund’s 70 in the table.
