It’s not getting any bigger in German football: On Saturday, FC Bayern Munich will welcome their big rivals from Dortmund (from 6:30 p.m star-Live ticker). And it’s been a long time since the “German classic” promised as much excitement as this season. For the first time since the 2018/19 season, BVB is leading the table against the German record champions. Since the start of the second half of the season, Westphalia has gained a whopping ten points on Bayern. After the last match day and a disappointing 2-1 defeat in the away game against Bayer Leverkusen, the Munich team not only lost first place in the table, but also their head coach Julian Nagelsmann. Now the new Bayern and old Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel is experiencing his baptism of fire in the top game.
FC Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund: The most exciting classic in a long time
Now, as is well known, “all theory is gray in life – but crucial on the pitch,” as BVB icon Adi Preissler once said. But before the top game one can speak of a duplication of events. Because the last time Bayern changed a coach during the season, the first opponent in the league was Borussia from Dortmund. In 2019, the record champions separated from Niko Kovac, and the later triple coach Hansi Flick took over. And BVB went down without a hitch with 0:4 in Munich.
Whether the Westphalians can do better this time will be seen on Saturday evening in the sold-out Allianz Arena. Until then, he remembers star some highlights of the classic: From Oliver Kahn’s freaks out, to striker Jan Koller, who suddenly had to guard the black and yellow box, to Bayern’s humiliation in the cup final in Berlin. We will also remember these encounters after the new edition of the top game.