Were Borussia Dortmund Too Conservative in Goalless Draw vs. Bayern Munich?

The game they call Der Klassiker—overseas much more so than in Germany, by the way—might have ended in a goalless draw, but that doesn't mean millions of fans around the globe saw a dull affair between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

In fact, it was one of the best games to end 0-0 one will see.

Germany coach Joachim Low called it easily the best game he had seen this season in a half-time interview with German broadcaster Sky, and, even though the match fizzled out in the last 20 minutes or so, when both teams accepted the draw as a good result, it's tough to argue with the 2014 FIFA World Cup-winning coach.

Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel praised his team's showing after the game, per the club's official website: "I am very satisfied with the team’s performance today. It is very difficult to endure a period of sustained pressure from Bayern. It was important to remain disciplined in defence today. The Bavarians play at an extremely high level. You have to defend very well accordingly."

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Indeed, the Black and Yellows did defend fairly well. Bayern had only two major goalscoring opportunities, and both came after set pieces.

Douglas Costa had the first of those two in the 28th minute, after a Dortmund corner, oddly enough.

Arjen Robben picked the Brazil international out, who had the entire BVB half to himself. He probably had too much time on his hands, as one could almost see him calculate his various options, while Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki just stood his ground and was in perfect position to keep the shot out with his shin.

Arturo Vidal had the other big chance in the 64th minute, when he reacted quicker than anyone else to a loose ball after a Bayern corner and fired away a thunderous shot from 10 yards. Burki miraculously got his hand up in time and tipped the ball onto the crossbar with one of the best saves a goalkeeper can make, as the video below shows:

"

Roman Bürki. #BVBFCB pic.twitter.com/ytOT1uu7yZ

— Bunk (@manelo_) March 5, 2016"

The Switzerland international deserved his top marks, as ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko rated him 10 out of 10. Arguably, though, he wasn't even his side's best player. That distinction might well have gone to Mats Hummels, whose very strong performance WhoScored.com highlighted on Twitter:

Dortmund's defence profited from the lineup Tuchel had chosen. The somewhat surprising inclusion of Erik Durm saw them shape up with five at the back when Bayern were on the attack. Lukasz Piszczek moved inside as a third centre-back, while the athletic Durm matched up with Douglas Costa.

Apart from the two aforementioned major scoring chances, Tuchel's defensive plan worked pretty well.

After the game, however, some criticised the 42-year-old for not having a proper go at the three points his side would've needed to blow the race for the Bundesliga title wide open.

B/R's Clark Whitney wrote: "When Bayern decided to settle the pace, the hosts' lack of creative presence in midfield was exposed. A Shinji Kagawa or even Gonzalo Castro-type would have been useful."

Deutsche Welle's Ross Dunbar, meanwhile, tweeted that he was "disappointed Tuchel didn't take a gamble towards the end."

One could indeed argue Dortmund should've gone for the win, seeing as the draw definitely helped Bayern more than the Black and Yellows. Tuchel's very late substitutions—Adrian Ramos was the only sub before stoppage time, and even he only came on 10 minutes from time—didn't exactly sound the charge.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

It was perhaps the first time that the lack of transfer activity in the January window hurt Dortmund: Marco Reus, for example, had a poor day, with some heavy touches killing attacks early in the process, and would've been a prime candidate for an earlier substitution.

However, bemoaning Dortmund keeping their shape until the end belittles the fact that Bayern were fantastic on the day. As the Bavarians so often have shown, they can kick into another gear for the biggest matches, and they did just that on Saturday. 

Going all out for the win would more likely have led to the visitors leaving Signal Iduna Park with three points than Dortmund reducing their deficit to two points.

In a way, the match epitomised the Bundesliga season: Dortmund were very good, Bayern were even better.

There's no shame in that for the Black and Yellows.

Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.