Dortmund hold their nerve to show Bayern they are in a real title race

“W e only have one competition left,” said Sebastian Kehl, Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director. “But we’re fully in the race.” That had not always been a given on a Bundesliga Super Saturday which was more of a Squeaky Bum Saturday, to paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson. The jitters were not restricted to Borussia Dortmund either.

Some 500km to the south, as Bayern Munich eked out their own narrow win to maintain the status quo in the title race, Joshua Kimmich clenched both fists and roared at the Freiburg fans, to widespread disapproval on all sides. It was a reaction, said the captain, to “provocation” from the stadium announcer, who had the temerity to celebrate Christian Streich’s side knocking the league champions out of the German Cup. “I let myself get carried away,” was the closest that Kimmich came to contrition.

It is natural enough for the moment of truth to arrive at this time of year though, as in every major European league, we’re not quite as far along as we think, given the extended winter hiatus for the World Cup. There are still seven games to go and – hopefully – many twists to come. What is remarkable is that, for the first time in a long time, there is a real jostle developing. The Bundesliga title is far from decided, it seems.

There was a moment, just after 4.50pm local time, when it felt like that might not be the case. Bayern had already taken the lead, returning to a two-point advantage in the table through an unlikely source, as Matthijs de Ligt arrowed a magnificent strike into the top-left corner of Mark Flekken’s goal. Then BVB’s worst fears were realised. They had played well against the ever-awkward Union, but missed the chances to put themselves out of sight and were punished.

A brilliant