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"Thou shalt not pass" - Hertha Berlin custodian Rune Jarstein (r.) repeatedly denied record-seeking Robert Lewandowski in the 0-0 draw at Bayern Munich. - © © imago
"Thou shalt not pass" - Hertha Berlin custodian Rune Jarstein (r.) repeatedly denied record-seeking Robert Lewandowski in the 0-0 draw at Bayern Munich. - © © imago

Rune Jarstein: Hertha's Berlin wall in Munich and MD24's Man of the Matchday

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Bayern Munich's bid to break more records on Matchday 24 met the might of a Hertha Berlin wall as Pal Dardai's men became the first team to complete an unbeaten record to the record champions this season.

After two seasons of studying Bayern, Dardai appears to have found an antidote to the prolific Bavarians, holding them to draws in his last three meetings having lost his first four without scoring a single goal.

Bayern were preparing for extra celebrations at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, with Robert Lewandowski seeking to beat his coach Jupp Heynckes' record by scoring in a 12th straight home game, and the Bavarians bidding for a club record 15th straight win. It instead ended in frustration as Berlin's seemingly impregnable wall – with eight clean sheets already this season, two more than Bayern – held firm.

Rune Jarstein was imperious between the Hertha posts on a day when Lewandowski equalled his season's best of ten attempts on goal – more than half of Bayern's 19 all told. As a result, for the first time since May 2015 against Augsburg, Bayern failed to score in a Bundesliga game at the Allianz Arena.

Jordan Torunarigha chipped in with a series of crucial blocks, ensuring that even when Jarstein was beaten, Bayern had nothing to celebrate. But it was above all a mammoth team effort from the Old Lady, who ran a combined 72.7 miles – five more than Bayern – even if most of that time was chasing the ball, with Bayern boasting over 70 per cent of possession.

Dardai had his team working extremely efficiently, though, and he was encouraged by a second half in which he felt they had "everything under control".

"I have to congratulate my team because taking a point from here is huge," Dardai continued. "The only criticism I could level at my team is that we didn't finish off any of our breaks well. We couldn't really hurt Bayern, but we still head home with a deserved point. I can only compliment my team on this performance."

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