Borussia Dortmund hoped there had been a sign of change. BVB were back on top of the Bundesliga ahead of Der Klassiker and going to rivals Bayern Munich as the league's in-form team, their hosts meanwhile were in self-inflicted turmoil.
Victory at Allianz Arena would be the real statement Dortmund desired in a quest to prove they could end Bayern's domination of not only German football's biggest game, but the Bundesliga in general.
And perhaps Dortmund will still go on to win the title, but Saturday's match suggested that no matter how good BVB are, Bayern's psychological hold over them will take years to overcome.
As Bayern cruised to a 4-2 win, the Bundesliga's title race took another turn.
There had been plenty of talk about confidence from the Dortmund camp coming into the game, with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke managing to perfectly encapsulate Bayern's recent dominance of this fixture when saying they were travelling "to Munich with a lot of self-belief for the first time in a long time".
He was referring to the fact BVB hadn't won at Allianz Arena in the Bundesliga since 2014, when Jurgen Klopp was still in charge, and their run of eight – now nine – successive league losses away to Bayern was their second-worst streak against any club in their top-flight history.
They'd been on the end of some hammerings in that time, too, losing by three or more goals five times.
So, when Dortmund began with genuine promise and swagger on Saturday, there was at least a suggestion Bayern weren't going to have it all their own way.
Dortmund were aggressive in their pressing and incisive with their distribution. Marius Wolf's energy down the right looked a potential weapon; Jude Bellingham showed some classy touches; Marco Reus' off-the-ball runs caused Bayern issues.
In fact, had Reus got his shot off a fraction of a second earlier in the seventh minute after Wolf's clever release, he may well have given BVB an early lead – as it was, Matthijs de Ligt got across to make a vital block.
But as predictable as some might have suggested a comfortable Bayern win was, there was nothing inevitable about the moment everything changed on Saturday.
Dayot Upamecano's pass from just inside his own half was seemingly routine for Gregor Kobel, but the goalkeeper took his eye off the ball as he raced out to clear, getting a slight nick on the ball to score arguably the most remarkable own goal of the season.
It's impossible to definitively say if things would've been different without that horror show, but Dortmund ceased to be much of a threat from that point in the 13th minute.
The following 10 minutes saw Bayern build a handsome lead. Thomas Muller was on hand to nudge home from De Ligt's headed flick-on to make it 2-0, and then punished another Kobel mistake with a tap-in when Leroy Sane's long-range strike was only parried.
It was effectively game over inside a quarter of the contest. Dortmund may have been the Bundesliga's form team coming into the weekend, but their first-half collapse had them reverting to type in Der Klassiker.
It wasn't over yet either.
Bayern looked especially potent in the opening half when attacking from the flanks, with Sane and – in particular – Kingsley Coman absolutely devastating at times.
Their deployment as inverted wingers was one of few significant alterations to the Bayern setup from Tuchel. It worked a treat almost throughout, and its success was tangible with the fourth goal early in the second half.
Sane cut in from the right, played a perfectly weighted pass towards the back post – through the legs of Muller – and Coman was there to stab home.
No one would have expected wholesale changes from Tuchel. After all, he's only had a couple of days to work with much of the squad following the international window.
But such a subtle yet demonstrably effective tweak perhaps highlights why Bayern were so keen to not miss out on the opportunity to finally hire Tuchel.
Similarly, Bayern were thrilling to watch, and we know just how important that is.
"We've come to the conclusion that the quality in our squad – despite the Bundesliga title last year – has come to the fore less and less often. After the World Cup we have played less successfully and less attractively. The big fluctuations in performance have cast doubt on our goals for this season, but also our goals for the future. That is why we have acted now."
Club CEO Oliver Kahn's comments after Julian Nagelsmann's sacking were pretty brutal but offered a lot of clarity to not only the man he'd just fired, but also the one he'd just hired.
Dortmund's late consolations via an Emre Can penalty and Donyell Malen's precise finish might be indicative of some of the issues with Bayern's mentality towards the end of Nagelsmann's reign. The 5-3 win over Augsburg comes to mind.
But 4-2 was a scoreline that flattered Dortmund. If anything, Bayern were a little wasteful, and had they checked their runs better, more goals certainly would've arrived.
In some ways, this win was almost as close to the perfect start as Tuchel could have enjoyed when you consider the reservations Bayern started to have with Nagelsmann.
It will have likely dealt Dortmund a psychological blow, while Bayern find themselves back at the top of the table having produced an entertaining attacking spectacle.
But this wasn't where the title was won and lost – Bayern's shaky post-World Cup form proves Tuchel still has a lot of work to do.
What has gone wrong at Chelsea after billion-pound transfer spree?
Chelsea have taken only five points from their opening six Premier League games this season – their worst start to a campaign since 1978.
Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa leaves them in 14th and extended their winless run to three games.
Here the PA news agency looks at the reasons behind the west London club’s performance problems.
Is Mauricio Pochettino the right man?
Pochettino’s youthful Chelsea squad have experienced teething problems, with their only league win coming with a 3-0 victory over newly-promoted Luton. Their forwards have been wasteful in front of goal, with striker Nicolas Jackson missing seven big chances in six games with just a single goal to show for it. The Blues have shown signs of promise at times but individual errors and questionable changes to the formation will mount pressure on Pochettino, who is expected to perform after Chelsea’s £1 billion-plus transfer spree since May 2022.
How does Pochettino compare to other Chelsea managers?
Pochettino has struggled to improve a Chelsea slump that started under Graham Potter and continued during Frank Lampard’s woeful temporary return. In Pochettino’s first six Premier League games the Blues have scored only five goals, winning once and losing three times. That is slightly better than Lampard’s second spell at the helm, which saw the Blues score seven goals and take four points in their first six games before finishing 12th. Potter managed nine goals and 11 points in his first six games, while Thomas Tuchel – who won three trophies during his Stamford Bridge tenure – picked up 14 points in his first half a dozen Premier League fixtures. With a lack of goals holding Pochettino’s side back, the 51-year-old will hope that an increase in chances taken can turn the tide.
What about all the money they spent?
Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium forked out over £450 million on transfers this summer and have broken the British transfer record twice since January to land midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. Caicedo has had a mixed start at Stamford Bridge after his £115 million move from Brighton. The Ecuador midfielder had a poor cameo on his debut against West Ham before he gave the ball away for Anthony Elanga’s second-half winner against Forest. Jackson is yet to live to up to his exciting first two games in blue and has missed golden chances which have cost Pochettino’s side. Fernandez, however, is the shining light in Chelsea’s midfield and has shown his quality on the ball.
Are injuries to blame?
Chelsea had 12 players missing through injury for last week’s 0-0 draw at Bournemouth, forcing Pochettino to rotate once again. Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia are yet to make their debuts for the club due to being sidelined and the exciting Carney Chukwuemeka’s knee injury at West Ham was more serious than what was first hoped. Suspensions picked up by Nicolas Jackson and Malo Gusto will add further problems for Pochettino when they face Fulham.
What’s next for Chelsea?
After hosting Brighton in the Carabao Cup and a west London derby at Craven Cottage, the Blues face a tough run that includes Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle in their next eight league games. They will need to find an upturn in form if they do no not want to slip further out of the race for European qualification for a second successive season.
David Martindale says new Livingston owner will be a ‘huge positive’ for club
Livingston manager David Martindale believes the club’s new owner will be a “huge positive” – even though he knows very little about him.
The cinch Premiership club announced on Sunday night that Baycup Ltd and sole director John McIlvogue had acquired a majority shareholding.
Earlier this year, McIlvogue led a consortium that saved well-known Glasgow bakery firm Mortons Rolls from the brink of collapse and rescued more than 100 jobs. His other business interests include food and carpet firms.
McIlvogue has negotiated the Livingston deal with chairman John Ward and is set to meet Martindale and the rest of the staff on Tuesday.
The Livi manager said: “I don’t really know anymore than you guys but what I will say is there’s a new owner and it’s got to be a positive for the football club, because where we have been for the past three or four years has not been great.
“I am going to be really honest, it’s been really, really difficult for the staff in the club.
“So to have fresh impetus, a fresh skill-set coming into the building and hopefully upstairs aligned with downstairs and a wee bit of help upstairs for everybody in the club, that’s a huge, huge positive for the club.
“I have not even met these new owners or the new owner, whatever it is. I don’t even know him, but I just know it needed done and hopefully this is the step in the right direction.”
Livingston made pre-tax loss of more than £800,000 for the 2021-22 financial year and projected another loss of about £400,000 for last season.
Martindale said: “There’s been a lot of sleepless nights and sometimes you come into your work, and it’s not just me, it’s probably every member of staff, and you just think ‘I just want to be able to do my own job’.
“I want to be a football manager, I want to be a chief exec, whatever your role is, it’s been really difficult for all the staff because we are all mucking in and trying to keep this club in the Premiership. Sometimes it’s like pushing water up a hill, that’s how it feels.
“I don’t know the owner, but I trust John Ward implicitly and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead because there is going to be a skill-set that helps us face those challenges as a collective unit. Hopefully it’s the start of a fresh beginning for Livingston.”
The share purchase process remains ongoing, but McIlvogue has assumed control from a consortium called OPCCO6, which includes Ward, who is one of two club directors along with chief executive Dave Black.
That vehicle owned 1.3million of close to 2million shares in the club at the last confirmation, but a further 3.8million shares were created in June.
Historic ownership and club finance issues have been the subject of court cases and police investigations.
Martindale said: “It’s public knowledge, there are probably three or four ongoing court cases I have had to take an active part in in terms of sitting in on meetings because I am getting kept up to date with what’s going on.
“These court cases centre around alleged ownership of the football club and alleged loans.
“I hope I don’t need to deal with this on an ongoing basis.
“There’s only three or four of us in the building, there’s only me and Dave here on a daily basis, so generally anything that comes through the door, we have to deal with it.”
Martindale does not expect an immediate uplift in his football budget, but the club hope that McIlvogue can bring in new advertising revenue in his role as chief commercial officer.
“I’m not going to be chapping the door asking for more money in my budget,” he said. “I’ve got the budget, I know what I am working with.
“I think it’s important as a club we look at ways to increase our turnover, which in turn should hopefully lead to an increase in the budget.
“We lost a lot of money last year so I think it was important we got someone who was coming in and was going to underwrite any losses we are going to have this year.
“But that doesn’t mean I’ve not got to be frugal and spend within our means.
“But it’s nice to have that comfort knowing there is someone in the building who has offered to do that, who is in here to help the football club moving forward.”
How much will Man City miss midfield maestro Rodri and who could replace him?
Rodri will serve a three-match suspension for his sending-off against Nottingham Forest – but how much will Manchester City miss their midfield lynchpin?
Here, the PA news agency looks at the Spaniard’s impact in Pep Guardiola’s side.
“A big miss”
Rodri’s influence has increasingly been recognised over last season and this, peaking with his winning goal and player-of-the-match display in the Champions League final.
Team-mate Phil Foden said after Saturday’s game: “He is one of our most important players and he seems to play all the minutes. He is going to be a big miss.”
While not quite ever-present, Rodri led all City outfielders in playing time last season and had played all but 21 minutes in this season’s Premier League prior to his dismissal for tangling with Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
The 27-year-old Spain international leads the Premier League in passes and overall touches of the ball this term, still 67 passes and 87 touches clear of second-placed Brighton defender Lewis Dunk even after his dismissal, and trailed only Dunk in both categories last season.
He is also City’s leader this season and last in tackles and, while the same is true for fouls committed, he had up to now avoided serving a suspension since his arrival at the club in the summer of 2019.
The former Atletico Madrid man had eight Premier League bookings and 11 in all competitions in his first season but has had no more than six in the league or nine overall since then, while Saturday’s was the first red card of his career for club or country.
He ranks third for the club this season in shots and has been outscored by only Erling Haaland in the league and, additionally, Julian Alvarez in all competitions as he seemingly takes on some of the attacking duties left by Ilkay Gundogan’s summer departure.
Call for Kalvin
Gundogan was not the only high-profile player to leave City this summer and, coupled with injuries and now Rodri’s ban, Guardiola’s midfield options are rapidly dwindling.
Kevin De Bruyne lasted 23 minutes of the new league season before aggravating a hamstring injury, with Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic also currently sidelined along with defender John Stones, who excelled in a hybrid role last season.
Summer signing Matheus Nunes and forgotten man Kalvin Phillips could therefore have major roles to play – England international Phillips, who came on in the second half against Forest, has played barely 400 minutes of league football since joining from Leeds last summer.
Foden could also operate in a deeper role but options on the wing are not plentiful either, with Riyad Mahrez and Cole Palmer leaving this summer while Jack Grealish has only just returned from a knee problem. Jeremy Doku has hit the ground running while Alvarez has been used more regularly as a foil for Haaland up front.
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