BERLIN (Germany): Bayern Munich took a key step towards an eighth straight Bundesliga title on Tuesday, opening a seven-point gap with six games left as they won 1-0 at nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund.
Joshua Kimmich’s deft chip two minutes before half-time settled an edgy tussle between the league’s top two teams in front of empty terraces.
Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick said the absence of spectators for top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash was a “missing factor”.
Reigning champions Bayern thrashed second-placed Dortmund 4-0 last November in front of 75,000 fans at the Allianz Arena.
But the teams met again in Dortmund with the stands at Signal Iduna Park — usually packed with 82,000 people — empty after the Bundesliga became the first top European league to return, behind closed doors, following the coronavirus lockdown.
“It is a very special game,” Flick said on Monday, with Bayern heading to Dortmund with a four-point lead. “As a coach, there is no question that the fans are a missing factor.”
Schalke 04 to miss Serdar for rest of season
Schalke 04, who are struggling for form in the Bundesliga, have lost their top-scorer Suat Serdar for the rest of the season with a torn leg ligament, head coach David Wagner confirmed Tuesday.
The 23-year-old Serdar, who has scored seven league goals this season from defensive midfield, suffered the injury in the second half in Sunday’s 3-0 home loss to Augsburg.
Serdar, who made his Germany debut last November, will undergo further tests to decide “whether an operation is necessary at the end of the week,” said Wagner.
Serdar is expected to be sidelined for from three to four months, missing their last seven league games.
For Wednesday’s league match at Fortuna Duesseldorf, who are third from bottom, France Under-20 midfielder Jean-Clair Todibo, who is on loan from Barcelona, is fit after recovering from an ankle injury.
The loss of Serdar is the latest blow to Schalke, who are winless in their last nine league games, conceding 22 goals and scoring just twice.
Having been in the title race before Christmas, Schalke have dropped from third in December to eighth in the table.
The pressure is mounting on ex-Huddersfield Town boss Wagner, who admits the situation is “not pleasant”, having also been hammered 4-0 at Dortmund ten days ago.
“At the moment we are no longer the team we were in the first half of the season,” said Wagner.
“You can’t compare the kind of football we played back then.”
