05 March 2016
Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich, hosts of Juventus for the second leg of the pair's Champions first knockout round tie on 16 March, were denied victory for the second time in four days as they played out a 0-0 draw with nearest challengers Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday night.
While Wednesday's 2-1 home reverse at the hands of Mainz saw Bayern's advantage over Dortmund cut to five points during the week, the Bianconeri's European opponents had good reason to be content with a share of the spoils at the home of Thomas Tuchel's Dortmund and their direct Bundesliga title rivals.
It was in fact the home side that began the game with more intensity and determination in the knowledge that a win would represent one of few remaining opportunities to gain ground on Guardiola's men.
Twice Tuchel's side threatened Manuel Neuer's goal in the opening exchanges, the big German making a fine stop from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Gabon forward had beaten Joshua Kimmich for pace before watching Erik Durm's low effort crash into his side-netting shortly afterwards.
In an opening 45 that offered more in the way of attacking excitement than the second, Bayern would quickly fashion a flurry of chances themselves, the best of which fell to Douglas Costa just before the half-hour mark, the Brazilian firing straight at Roman Burki when sent through one on one.
Where perhaps on balance the game's middle third was dominated by the visitors, the home side rediscovered their early solidity as Bayern began to tire ensuring that Germany's two most consistent clubs in recent times cancelled each other as the tie drew to a close.
On balance then, a missed opportunity for Dortmund, a well-earned and potentially crucial away point for Guardiola's side who, despite dropping five points this week, still remain in the driving seat in the race for the Bundesliga title.
After Saturday night's stalemate the German champions will return to Munich for back-to-back home games against Werder Bremen on 12 March and of course Juventus the following Wednesday.
