Darmstadt Draw Means Borussia Dortmund Face Do-or-Die Against Bayern Munich

Borussia Dortmund began the 2015-16 season in record form, thanks to their breathtaking attack and rock-solid defence. With 11 wins from 11 matches in all competitions, Thomas Tuchel's men were on top of the world a week ago.

And now, having dropped four points in as many days, all their good work in the Bundesliga is on the brink of falling apart.

After falling behind against Hoffenheim and most recently Darmstadt, only to earn draws in both instances, Dortmund face leaders Bayern Munich next weekend in what now could be a do-or-die situation in BVB's campaign for the title.

The Ruhr side visit the Allianz Arena next Sunday knowing defeat would put them seven points behind the three-time defending champions, while a draw would still probably leave them needing a bit of luck (and a long string of victories) to find their way back into the title race.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Both of Dortmund's recent draws were avoidable, the manner in which they dropped points being reminiscent of the latter stages of the Jurgen Klopp era.

A simple counter-attack put them against the wall in Hoffenheim before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rescued a point.

But their most-recent draw with Darmstadt was even more damning. The promoted side scored with their first chance of the game, and it took BVB nearly an hour to put themselves ahead. Aubameyang was again the hero, and all the hosts had to do was cling to their points for the final 19 minutes.

Dortmund's good work went for nought at the death as Aytac Sulu fired home a last-gasp equaliser for the visitors, rescuing an improbable point. It was the simplest of goals: a free-kick from the halfway line that defender Matthias Ginter inexplicably took off his chest, setting up the opposing captain to smash home the equaliser.

BVB should have won on Sunday, and they only have themselves to blame for conceding twice from just four attempts (via the Bundesliga live ticker).

It would be a mistake to chalk it all up to bad luck; consistently allowing similar goals last season was what led to Klopp's departure. And it's very different from the situation in Munich.

Bayern haven't exactly strolled to top spot in the Bundesliga. In fact, they've only led at half-time on three occasions. And like Dortmund in recent times, they've gone behind; three times, in fact.

In each situation, however, Bayern managed to do whatever was necessary to claim three points. And they have yet to throw away points after going ahead, as Tuchel lamented Dortmund did in his post-match press conference (via Dortmund's official Twitter account).

In terms of overall form, not very much has separated Bayern and Dortmund in the early stages of the campaign. However, Pep Guardiola's men have shown why they are three-time defending champions: They simply win.

Sometimes this means blowing out their opponents, as against Hamburg and Leverkusen. And sometimes it means coming back from a goal behind and down a man.

One way or another, and regardless of how unconvincing their performance may be before half-time, they find their way. It's so fundamentally simple, yet that alone may be the deciding factor in the title race. It's already resulted in a four-point gap.

Now Tuchel and company face an early final—a mission improbable—as they visit the only remaining team with a perfect record among Europe's top leagues.

It could have been a situation in which a draw would be acceptable, but now the pressure on Dortmund is higher than ever. A win would keep them in the title race at least a little longer; defeat would almost certainly build a ceiling of second place.

@Mr_Bundesliga