Jamal Musiala hits back for Bayern Munich to break Dortmund hearts

It cannot be long until English audiences learn Jamie Gittens’s name. He has been operating on the periphery of consciousness back home but this was some way to illuminate one of Europe’s showpiece occasions. Gittens is only 20 and coming into his own four years after arriving at Borussia Dortmund. His electrifying solo goal before the half-hour seemed to have settled a high-octane clash until Jamal Musiala glanced an equaliser five minutes from the end and maintained Bayern Munich’s unbeaten record.

Musiala maintained a 10-point gap between the bitter rivals and, more broadly, dampened the sense of an impending Bundesliga title race. The disappointment for Bayern lay in a first-half injury to Harry Kane, which will raise antennae in England too. At least Gittens, whose senior debut cannot be far off, could delight any watching emissaries.

Nobody in Dortmund’s heartland appeared concerned by any disparity at the outset. The hosts said they could have sold 400,000 tickets for this fixture: a modern-era classic in name and nature whose prestige can comfortably survive either protagonist’s fluctuations. Nearly 25,000 of them packed into a raucous yellow wall almost an hour before kick-off and it was a reminder, on a day when Fifa’s effective waving through of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid stoked despair at football’s direction, that its soul will not easily be wrenched away.

The question for Dortmund, their extensive injury list led by the creative force Julian Brandt, was whether they could bend Bayern out of shape. Vincent Kompany’s players had not conceded in seven games, winning them all, and Bayern had not lost here since November 2018. For Dortmund’s young coach Nuri Sahin, the hope was that these encounters can defy known laws.

There was a familiar feeling when Leroy Sané, cutting inside to let rip, forced Gregor Kobel to parry in the seventh minute. Bayern held an early monopoly on possession and invention; Dortmund’s chief outlet lay in the form of Gittens, who twice forced Manuel Neuer into scrappy clearances. It was Pascal Gross, in for Brandt, who found a more threatening position before cutting back behind a frustrated Marcel Sabitzer.

But Dortmund were forcing errors and finding space out wide; they had won all eight of this season’s home games and looked capable of a ninth when Gittens scored. What a moment it was for the youngster, who has been prolific in the Champions League and is hitting his straps domestically. An exhibition of full-throttle forward play began with a spin five yards inside his own half that left Konrad Laimer for dead. There was no catching Gittens from there but the measure would lie in his composure upon reaching the box. That was beyond reproach too, a left-footed shot flashed high beyond Neuer as the angle tightened. The entire sequence had taken eight exhilarating seconds.

James Gittens lashes into the back of the net midway through the first half. Photograph: Friedemann Vogel/EPA

Kane’s goalscoring feats for Bayern have not depended on such sprints but, five minutes later, he was denied any chance to respond. In truth he had barely been involved but it was a huge blow when he went down and, after taking treatment, was replaced by Thomas Müller. Before the interval Dortmund’s centre-forward, Serhou Guirassy, lashed over a half-chance to compound the agony.

Surely Bayern, ground down by Dortmund’s zeal, could not be as staid again. Four minutes of the second half had passed when Musiala, hitherto quiet, wriggled away in the box and found Müller for what seemed a sure thing. Kobel, though, stood monumentally to make a goal-saving block. Almost immediately, smart action by Laimer denied Gittens a second at the other end.

A silky turn and pass from Felix Nmecha, like Gittens a Manchester City graduate, was greeted rapturously. Now this was the rattling end-to-end affair that had been advertised, Musiala shooting just wide before Sané ran clear but missed the far post. Sabitzer, with another chance on the counter for Dortmund, shot against the advancing Neuer’s legs, but the question now was whether they could hold on.

As the pressure cranked up it became clear they would struggle. Eventually Michael Olise, a substitute, crossed delicately from the right and an unmarked Musiala nodded in. He ran off patting his head in wonder but it was little surprise that Bayern exerted their hold again.