Bundesliga blog: How Bayern try to win even when they lose

Bayern Munich lost at home this week to their chief rivals for the title but they still managed to end the weekend looking like winners. How do they do it?

By Sean Nolan

Last week my colleague Emmet Purcell previewed this weekend's football in Germany, hoping fervently that Bayern would lose and that we would have a proper race for the Bundesliga title. Well, he got his wish as a Mario Götze-inspired Borussia Dortmund turned up at the Allianz Arena and beat the mighty Bayern 1-0, putting themselves just two points behind the Bavarian giants.

Then in more good news for fans of a real title chase, Borussia Monchengladbach hammered Werder Bremen 5-0 to show that they too are in it for the long haul. So we should be happy, we should be licking our lips at a three-way joust for the crown but instead we fear that Bayern have come out of the weekend with their vice-like grip on German football still intact.

Why? Well less than 24 hours after their defeat, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge played the classic card that Bayern have played all their lives; you may have beaten us, but we will buy your best player now to teach you a lesson.

Götze, pursued by half of Europe at this point, was confirmed as a Munich target by Rummenigge, and then he threw in that they would quite like to take ‘Gladbach’s hat-trick hero Marco Reus too.

At a stroke, the power in German football shifted back to Bayern and they may well have to flex that muscle in the winter break to wrestle control for good from Dortmund and ‘Gladbach. But they know they have the money and with a reported €18million release clause in Reus’ contract, they know there is little to stop one or both being Bayern bound on January 1.

But this is the Bayern way, to hoover up talent and leave their rivals gasping. They did it with Michael Ballack, Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski in the past and they will probably do it again with Götze and Reus.

It is sad but it palls in comparison to the real tragedy that almost struck German football this weekend; the attempted suicide of referee Babak Rafati.

Rafati was supposed to take charge of the game between Cologne and Mainz but he was found in his hotel room with his wrists slashed just hours before kick-off by his team of assistant referees. Thankfully he was discovered in time and he has now been released from hospital.

German football was left reeling by the suicide of goalkeeper Robert Enke just over two years ago and once again the sport is plunged into a series of self examination as it ponders the pressures of top-flight football in Germany.

They are crazy about football in Germany, even more so than in England, and the media is saturated in coverage of the game. This brings great excitement and colour to their game but it also puts a microscopic focus on every goal, tackle and refereeing decision.

Rafati was voted the worst referee in the Bundesliga by the players for three of the last four seasons and the magazine that runs the poll, Kicker, has said it is considering dropping the award. It may be a small step, but anything that can prevent more misery striking German football has to be welcomed.

Results:

FC Kaiserslautern 0-2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Schalke 04 4-0 FC Nuremberg, SC Freiburg 2-2 Hertha BSC Berlin, FC Köln P-P FSV Mainz 05, VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 Hannover 96, Borussia M'gladbach 5-0 SV Werder Bremen, FC Bayern Munich 0-1 Borussia Dortmund, VfB Stuttgart 2-1 FC Augsburg, Hamburger SV 2-0 1899 Hoffenheim

Fixtures (November 25-27):

Fri: SV Werder Bremen v VfB Stuttgart (Live on ESPN, 19:30)

Sat: FC Augsburg v VfL Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04, Hertha BSC Berlin v Bayer 04 Leverkusen, FC Nuremberg v FC Kaiserslautern, 1899 Hoffenheim v Hamburger SV

Sun: FC Köln v Borussia M'gladbach, FSV Mainz 05 v FC Bayern Munich (Live on ESPN, 16:30)