BVB vs Bayern: Will Dortmund finally overcome Bayern hoodoo?
A tense encounter certainly is on the cards as familiar foes Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich lock horns on Saturday. Only one point separates the two sides ahead of this contest, making the latest installment of Der Klassiker that much more crucial. So far, and not surprisingly, Bayern do hold the vastly superior head to head record in Klassiker ties, with nearly double the wins versus die Schwarzgelben (51 for Bayern, 26 for Dortmund). On top of that, Bayern have lost just two of their last ten Klassiker meetings in the Bundesliga, with wins in the last five. In fact, Dortmund haven’t beaten Bayern in a Bundesliga Klassiker since November 2018, when skipper Marco Reus netted a brace during a 3-2 win.
Both teams come into this tie with wins. Dortmund temporarily seized top spot after beating Wolfsburg 3-1, during which Erling Haaland came off the bench to secure all three points. It was exactly the tonic Marco Rose needed after his side suffered an unfortunate and surprising 3-1 loss to Sporting CP in their midweek Champions League tie. That marks a third straight defeat to Dortmund in that competition, which puts their qualification chances for the round of 16 in serious jeopardy.
Haaland’s return, however, couldn’t come at a better time. The Norwegian striker has been out for the past few months due to a thigh injury, and very well looks set to be installed in the starting XI. So far, he’s scored five goals in his last five meetings with Bayern across all comps, and will naturally look to be the hero on the night as Dortmund seek to overcome their frustrating Bayern hoodoo. A win for Rose’s men would help Dortmund back into top spot and put them two ahead of Bayern. While it may not seem like a big gap, there’s also the psychological aspect of it, as a narrow lead would force Bayern to recalibrate and reassess their strategy, especially as we head into the second half of the season.
By contrast, a loss for Dortmund could really be catastrophic. We’ve seen in the past when a team who’s in good stead to potentially challenge Bayern for the title come up against die Roten, lose, and everything seemingly goes downhill from there. Meanwhile, from Bayern’s perspective, they obviously will want to win this game and give themselves a bit of breathing room as the season heads into the Christmas break.
Bayern actually had a difficult time against Arminia Bielefeld last time out. It was a game Julian Naglesmann’s side needed to win especially after Dortmund had temporarily seized top spot. Robert Lewandowski had an unusually quiet day at the office, but fortunately for Bayern, Leroy Sane was able to grab the only goal of the game and give the Bavarian titans a win they really needed.
It was only the third time this season that Lewandowski had failed to score in the Bundesliga, but after being controversially denied what would have been a deserved Ballon d’Or prize (Karim Benzema, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, and Mohamed Salah are also among those who feel they had a real shout instead of Lionel Messi), he will certainly look to rebound here. Lewandowski is no stranger to scoring against his former team, with a whopping 16 goals from his last 10 meetings, and to date is the top goal scorer in Klassiker ties with 25 goals.
Curiously enough, despite Bayern’s dominance in this match, Dortmund have proved to be a frustrating opponent for current Bayern boss Naglesmann. To date, the 34-year-old has won just two of his last 13 meetings with die Schwarzgelben, while losing seven times.
Does that bode well for Dortmund? We will have to wait and see, but one thing is certain: fans and neutrals alike will be hoping to witness a highly entertaining contest from start to finish.
