Alison Bender and Don Hutchison discuss who Bayern will look to next as they part ways with Carlo Ancelotti.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos told journalists "maybe we have a good chance [to win] the Bundesliga this season," after Borussia Dortmund had lost 3-1 in the Champions League to Real Madrid.
While chances to progress to the round of 16 in the UCL look more and more dire after starting with two losses against Tottenham Hotspur and Madrid, the Black and Yellows may fancy their chances in their domestic campaign, where they are on top of the table after six match days; three points ahead of a struggling Bayern team.
After five years of crushing Bayern dominance, Dortmund are hoping that this could be their year. Under Peter Bosz they have looked highly competitive in the Bundesliga with an incredible scoring output of 19 goals in six games while conceding only one. Even though their defensive record flatters the Ruhr side due to opponents squandering high-quality chances at times, one can argue that their high-pressing line and possession game will outscore most Bundesliga sides regardless.
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So for Dortmund it must have been bad news when they heard that Carlo Ancelotti was sacked by Bayern Munich on Thursday. The Bavarian giants were not playing well under the tutelage of the 58-year-old. Tactically, it was a far cry from the intricate positional play that was introduced by Pep Guardiola and helped dominate opponents in a manner that saw many teams capitulating on trips to the Allianz Arena.
So far this season it has been a different vibe for Munich, who look unusually vulnerable at the back and -- just like Dortmund -- are highly susceptible to counter-attacks as PSG showed on Wednesday night. Bayern, unlike Dortmund, rely too much on individual efforts to create chances. And as Uli Hoeness revealed, Ancelotti had lost the plot in the dressing room towards the end of his tenure, with apparently five star players being aggravated by the now former Bayern manager.
"You can't have five of your most prominent players up against you," Hoeness told Westfalenpost.
Surely, Dortmund would have preferred for the drama at Bayern to play out longer and potentially take further advantage of the challenges rocking the usually tight ship in Munich.
Thomas Tuchel certainly has the ability to revitalize Bayern's floundering campaign.
Now, one of the likeliest candidate to take over at the helm of Bayern during the upcoming international break is former Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel, with Julian Nagelsmann also being a strong contender. The latter, however, is still under contract at Hoffenheim, who are currently ahead of the German powerhouse in the table.
Dortmund, of course, showed Tuchel the door despite sporting success, as there were too many insurmountable differences on a personal level between him, his players and the board.
If Bayern opt for the 43-year-old, the Dortmund bosses will know that the appointment will be a gamble with a lot of big egos inevitably colliding at Bayern Munich. In the short-term, Tuchel would bring back the positional play and tactical superiority that had been lacking since Guardiola left. Indeed, that would be a grim outlook for BVB's chances in a potential title race. Tuchel certainly has the skillset to rekindle Bayern's towering dominance -- not to mention an intimate knowledge of the squad he would be trying to catch at the top of the table.
A similar argument could be made for Nagelsmann's skillset. But it would be extra salt to a wounded Dortmund if they are to play a stupendous Bundesliga season only to end up as runners-up to Tuchel.
For the Black and Yellows to make their domestic campaign a success, they will need to beat Augsburg on the road on Saturday in order to maintain their still rather slim lead. Fifth-placed Augsburg, who were marked as the first team to get relegated on the tipping sheets of most pundits, are the surprise of the league with coach Manuel Baum making the most out of the limited quality to his disposal.
Unlike Borussia Monchengladbach coach Dieter Hecking, who was sent home with a 6-1 paddling by BVB last Saturday, Baum has proven thus far this season that he is capable of tailoring his team's match-plan to exploit weaknesses.
Obviously, Saturday's hosts won't be able to evade Dortmund's pressing in the same fashion as Real Madrid did on Tuesday. Augsburg, however, have shown that they can keep their defence organised while posing a threat on the counter-attack, as Leipzig had to find out a fortnight ago.
Augsburg pose the highest amount of defensive touches (the sum of tackles, clearances, interceptions and blocked shots) in the league, which means that the Ruhr side will have to bring some patience to the WWK Arena.
Bosz's side shouldn't feel a Champions League hangover with three days in between matches and plenty of fresh legs to rotate into the team. Christian Pulisic, Marc Bartra, Shinji Kagawa, Julian Weigl and Mahmoud Dahoud will all be ready, while Andre Schurrle could start off the bench after overcoming a muscle injury that kept him out since August.
Dortmund managed a mere five wins on the road in 2016-17. On Saturday, they have the chance to pick up their third away from home and keep the pressure on a Bayern team in turmoil, but could soon be back on track and gunning for them.
Stefan Buczko covers Borussia Dortmund for ESPN FC. Twitter: @StefanBuczko.
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Source: espn.co.uk