Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund: Winners and Losers from Der Klassiker
Bayern Munich blasted five goals past Borussia Dortmund on Sunday to earn a seven-point advantage at the top of the Bundesliga table.
Thomas Muller started the scoring in the 26th minute and followed it up with a spot kick in the 35th minute to put Bayern ahead by two goals.
Dortmund countered with a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goal late in the first half, but Bayern killed any momentum the visitors had through Robert Lewandowski's 46th-minute tally.
Lewandowski knocked in a pass from Mario Gotze for his second before Gotze finished off the dominant victory with a goal of his own.
Here's a look at our winners and losers from Bayern's big win at home in Der Klassiker.
Winner: Robert Lewandowski
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Robert Lewandowski extended his ridiculous scoring form into Sunday as he netted a pair of strikes against his former side.
Following a quiet first half, the Poland international needed 22 seconds to get on the board in the second half as he split the Dortmund defense and connected with Jerome Boateng's long ball.
On his 46th-minute goal, Lewandowski slotted the ball under an incoming Roman Burki, who was caught out of position, to put the hosts ahead by two.
Twelve minutes later, Lewandowski tapped in a superb cross sent in from the right wing by Mario Gotze for his fourth consecutive multi-goal match.
Lewandowski has found the back of the net on 12 occasions in his last four matches in all competitions.
Loser: Roman Burki
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Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki not only conceded five goals to Bayern Munich on Sunday, he also made two critical positioning errors on the first strike of each half.
On Thomas Muller's opener, Burki decided to stay back in his net until it was too late as he relied too much on the high line to keep Muller offside.
That plan did not work out for Burki as Boateng played a perfect ball to Muller, who shredded the Dortmund defense apart. With little time to react, Burki was left helpless as he tried to stop Muller's approach on the net.
A similar situation reared its head at the start of the second half as Burki remained close to goal as Boateng exposed his defense once again with a long ball in the buildup to Lewandowski's first strike.
Although he can't do anything about Sunday's mistakes now, Burki should take this as a learning experience to communicate better with his back line in future showdowns with top teams.
Winner: Jerome Boateng
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We've already talked about the influence Boateng had on the attack, but he also shined defensively for the hosts on Sunday.
Boateng earned a pair of assists on the opening goal of each half, and he limited Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's influence on the match.
Although Aubameyang did break free for a five-minute spell at the end of the first half to score Dortmund's lone goal, Boateng shut him down for the majority of the contest.
Boateng made five clearances and four interceptions while holding Aubameyang to one shot and 26 touches, per WhoScored.
Loser: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan was arguably the best Dortmund player on the pitch on Sunday. But he made two vital mistakes that shifted the game in Bayern's favor.
In the 34th minute, the Armenia international conceded a penalty as he clipped Thiago Alcantara on the left side of the box. That blunder led to Bayern's second strike, which was pounded in from the spot by Muller.
With his side down three goals and clawing for a glimmer of hope, Mkhitaryan scuffed a golden opportunity in front of goal in the 64th minute. Had he hit his shot better, Dortmund may have pulled within two goals of the hosts.
Instead, Bayern went straight down the field and finished off a ruthless attack through two former Dortmund players to crush any positive thoughts that were left in the Dortmund camp at that point.
Winner: Thomas Muller
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Thomas Muller broke his four-game scoreless streak with a first-half brace in the dominant win by Bayern.
Muller coolly played the ball around Burki in the 26th minute on the way to his seventh goal of the Bundesliga campaign.
The Germany international moved his league scoring total to eight in the 35th minute as he banged home a shot into the right side of the net from the spot.
If Muller remains hot and Lewandowski continues to play out of his mind up top, Bayern's attack may be unstoppable all season.
Loser: Thomas Tuchel
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Thomas Tuchel took a risk by leaving Marco Reus and Adnan Januzaj on the bench for the top-of-the-table clash at the Allianz Arena.
Tuchel's strategy miserably backfired, as his attack lacked a pulse for the majority of the first half while Bayern began to pull away.
When he did bring on the duo in a double substitution in the 53rd minute, it was too little, too late as Bayern already held a two-goal advantage.
The only thing Tuchel can do now is learn from his mistakes on Sunday and try to rectify them in the arduous chase of Bayern Munich in the title race, which many think isn't a race at all right now.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
