Bundesliga: It’s Time For Germany’s Big Beasts!

Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

It’s time for the 101^st Klassiker and I am already excited! It’s the champions against the expected leading challengers.

Yes, the 2018/19 Bundesliga ultimately went the way the pre-season SBOBET betting odds had forecast with Bayern Munich claiming a seventh successive triumph.

But that only told half the story.

Amidst Bundesliga highlights galore, the title race went down to the final day for the first time since 2001 as Lucien Favre’s Borussia Dortmund produced a chase few expected, even holding a nine-point lead early in the new year.

The end result may have been the same but it should be put into contest.

Remember since 2013, when Bayern won the treble under Jupp Heynckes, sealing the Bundesliga by 25 points, they had since won every Bundesliga by at least 10 points until last season.

Now it’s time to renew hostilities and Dortmund go into the game one point and two places above their rivals who are searching for a permanent manager.

Perhaps this isn’t the home banker some would think?

Talking Points

Achraf Hakimi wants to maintain his prolific form when BVB faces Bayern in their upcoming Bundesliga match — Borussia Dortmund’s Achraf Hakimi scores their first goal during the Europa League

Last weekend Bayern went down to 10 men and after a brief rally, they collapsed at Eintracht Frankfurt, spelling the end for manager Niko Kovac’s reign.

This shockingly happened despite leading the club to a domestic double in his only full season in charge.

Assistant coach Hansi Flick oversaw a routine victory in the Champions League on Wednesday but this will be more of a test.

After Jerome Boateng’s ninth-minute sending off last weekend it will be even harder. He was arguably only playing because Kovac’s first-choice centre-backs Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernandez are injured. With all three absent for the visit of Dortmund, Flick has no choice but to field a cut-and-shut back four.

Mats Hummels was on the list of options when the teams last met in March but Bayern allowed him to return to Dortmund in the summer.

They have kept four clean sheets so far on his watch – and notable ones at that, blunting Bayer Leverkusen, leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach, Schalke and Wolfsburg.

Yet who needs to defend when you have Robert Lewandowski.

With 14 Bundesliga goals for the current campaign, 21 in all competitions, 39 overall in 2019 — as well as a bumper-crop 16 in 18 meetings with former employers BVB — there is no one across Europe’s top five leagues who can hold a candle to Bayern’s poker-hot No.9.

Dortmund will travel with confidence mind after turning on the style to see off Wolfsburg last weekend and then producing a fine comeback to defeat Inter Milan before a raucous Signal Iduna Park, inspired by Achraf Hakimi.

It’s all to play for in Munich.

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Bundesliga

History

Last season, this fixture was not only one for Dortmund to forget but was effectively the match which decided the title.

A game which was so one-sided, it left the visitors shell-shocked as the Bavarians scored five times without reply, including four in the opening 45 minutes.

The reverse fixture was a cracker as Dortmund twice came from behind to beat the champions 3-2.

Two goals from captain Marco Reus and one from Paco Alcacer sealed the points after a Lewandowski double put Bayern in the ascendancy.

You have to go back to April 2014 when Dortmund last won in the Allianz Arena when goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Reus and Jonas Hofmann netted in a comprehensive 3-0 win.

Since then, Bayern have scored 22 goals in their last five home league matches against Dortmund, unsurprisingly with those statistics winning all five.

Historically in the German top flight, Bayern have won 46 of their meetings, while Dortmund have triumphed on 25 occasions and there have been 29 draws.