Borussia Dortmund’s draw against their great rivals proved Thomas Tuchel is nearly a match for Pep Guardiola, while his side are not far off Bayern either

Goals not scored don’t tend to find their way into the history books. (Unless England are involved, perhaps). Arturo Vidal’s volley on to the cross-bar (via Roman Bürki’s fingertips); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Douglas Costa running through on goal at 35km/h; a last-ditch tackle from Joshua Kimmich; Arjen Robben cutting inside and missing the target: all these and a dozen other breathtaking scenes from Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich, the game that promised so much and delivered nearly everything, will soon fade from memory.

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There’s something a little strange about a sport that values a mishit shot trickling in off someone’s backside over a striker and goalkeeper matching each other’s greatness. But that’s where we are. At least the most exciting scenes of “the best game of the season” (according to the Germany manager and football purist Joachim Löw) will remain readily available on highlight reels, whereas the battle of wits between Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola will, in all likelihood, only be talked about in hushed, conspiratorial tones by tactics nerds in online forums and at coaching conventions.

It finished 0-0. But it was fascinating to witness Tuchel, one such nerd, following his mentor, the uber-nerd Guardiola, in making the case for football being evaluated (and maybe remembered, too) in a completely different manner, independent of goals and results. “I don’t care at all about the scoreline,” the BVB coach insisted convincingly on Saturday, adding that he’d found it “hard to feel angry at this moment”.

His team had achieved something almost impossible in the first 30 minutes, they had dominated possession against Bayern and forced the visitors to counterattack. A surprising defensive formation, with three at the back that became five in possession – but with Mats Hummels frequently moving into midfield to track Thomas Müller – denied Bayern space in the wide areas and prevented the champions’ from launching long balls over the top, the decisive weapon in the 5-1 demolition of the Black and Yellows in Munich in autumn.

Bayern have lost three times this season (against Arsenal, Gladbach and Mainz), but none of their opponents came as tantalisingly close to actually outplaying them, between both boxes, as Dortmund did in the first 60 minutes – until Guardiola’s adjustments (Xabi Alonso going deeper, Philipp Lahm moving into midfield) becalmed the game.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A fan makes his feelings known about Arjen Robben. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Tuchel could have bemoaned a series of poor first touches from Marco Reus in dangerous situations, or other small shortcomings, but he was much more interested in measuring his team’s performance against the Bayern benchmark. His Dortmund side “kept pace at the very highest level in world football against the very highest level of opposition,” as Hummels put it, and made up plenty of ground (if not points) on the league leaders too. But Bayern, Hummels hinted, were still ahead in terms of flexibility. The defender appreciated Müller’s “cleverness” in altering his positioning to escape attention and praised his “ability to make changes during the game”.

The WAZ newspaper, too, was impressed with the small print. “Critics might repeat until they’re the blue in the face that Guardiola not winning the Champions League might amount to a failure,” it wrote. “But all those who looked closely on Saturday could see he’s taken Bayern to another, even higher level”.

Tuchel believes the fact Dortmund have clung to this side’s coat-tails – and even briefly threatened to pull down their lederhosen – should be appreciated as a triumph in itself. “We’ve come closer,” he noted proudly. To him, beating Bayern on the night was of less importance than the evidence his team are developing, both tactically and in terms of their attitude. “I’m hoping we will see and use the light shed by this game immediately,” he said. “Then we will become, what we’ll become”. As good as Bayern, he meant. And as hungry, regardless of the position in the table. “Five points, two points, eight points [behind the leaders] – it doesn’t matter. We will continue. There is no other way. Bayern have been doing that for years, they’re relentless. We’ll try to follow that example.”

BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) "Guardiola doesn't think like other managers" @FCBayernEN boss delivers intense 'Pep talk' to Joshua Kimmich. https://t.co/MBTTDF80GZ

Dortmund, some observers thought, could have gone for broke towards the end of the match, to force a winner that could have changed the dynamic in the title race rather than settle for the status quo. Tuchel, though, as Süddeutsche Zeitung noted, “was not prepared to pay a price he didn’t know”. He and Guardiola were brothers in spirit, concluded the broadsheet, coaches who “refuse to be men for only one night”.

For Bayern, Vidal and the makeshift defender Kimmich were the best performers at the Signal Iduna Park, which told much of the story. Kimmich, 21, was outstanding against Aubameyang and Reus (“they’re pretty quick, you better start running,” he joked) but not nearly flawless enough for Guardiola. The Spaniard was irate Kimmich hadn’t taken up a deeper position in the last few minutes and administered an uncomfortably intense private lesson in the centre-circle. “He’s very critical but that’s what you want as a young player,” Kimmich shrugged. The former Stuttgart and Leipzig midfielder is now in danger of missing out on a trip to the Rio Olympics: Löw will surely start considering him for the Euros as an alternative in defence, perhaps at right-back, instead.

If Tuchel secretly did have any regrets, they were probably directed more at the club’s inability to strengthen in the winter break. Dortmund lacked one or two options from the bench to swing the game on Saturday, while Bayern could afford the luxury of keeping Mario Götze in the dugout and Kingsley Coman in the stands. There are whispers BVB may try to buy Götze back in the summer. The attacking midfielder knows all about goals that make it into the history books, of course, but at 23 he is too young to live off former glories alone.

Results: Cologne 1-3 Schalke, Frankfurt 1-1 Ingolstadt, Bremen 4-1 Hannover, Stuttgart 5-1 Hoffenheim, Augsburg 3-3 Leverkusen, Wolfsburg 2-1 Gladbach, Dortmund 0-0 Bayern Munich, Mainz 0-0 Darmstadt, Hamburg 2-0 Hertha.

Talking points to follow …