You bet Oliver Kahn was relieved after Bayern Munich’s Der Klassiker win

Phew! That’s what Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn must have been thinking in the team’s gangbusters 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund. After axing a popular and reasonably successful head coach in Julian Nagelsmann — a man the brass had been up to that week insisting was the heart of the club’s long-term plans — it would have been a disaster to fall apart at the seams.

Fortunately, falling apart at the seams is a BVB specialty in Munich.

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“It was a huge relief for everyone,” Kahn expressed on Bild TV (via @iMiaSanMia). “We were 9 points clear of Dortmund not long ago. The game could’ve been under different circumstances. Suddenly, BVB are one point ahead of us and there was big pressure on us. The team did incredibly well.”

That nine-point advantage at the start of the Rückrunde sure evaporated fast, and it’s a testament to just how wobbly Bayern’s Bundesliga performances were at the end of the Nagelsmann era.

But poor Dortmund. Even in their richest vein of form, they couldn’t come to the Allianz without a shocking early error and impromptu collapse of mentality. Bayern have work to do, but it’s starting to look more and more like first place will be confirmed.