Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund - German fans are holding their breath for Klassiker - 7M sport

Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund - German fans are holding their breath for Klassiker



Posted Saturday, October 03, 2015 by PA

Germany will stand still on Sunday evening as Der Klassiker - the most eagerly-anticipated fixture on the Bundesliga calendar - comes around.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the clubs who have shared the last six titles between them, meet at the Allianz Arena in the final game of the eighth weekend of matches.

Bayern are looking to equal their league record run of eight consecutive wins at the start of a season against a Dortmund side who are hoping to keep up with the Bavarians by becoming the first team to knock them off the rails this term.

"With the form the two sides are in at the moment - it should be a good game," Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel told bundesliga.com.

"Bayern have moved onto a new level in the last 10 years - a level that only three teams in Europe are on: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

"To be able to measure up to them, from the lower level that we are at, is something that really motivates us."

Dortmund make the trip to Munich with their tails between their legs after finishing a whopping 33 points behind their arch-rivals last term, and having drawn their last three games.

Tuchel is not concerned by their recent form, which followed a club-record run of 11 straight victories, and has actually welcomed the gap which has grown between the two sides in the standings.

"Maybe it's a positive from our draws that our winning run is over now and we can start over again without as much pressure as we had before," he said. "We can play with more freedom."

Freedom is not something visiting clubs get that often when they arrive in Munich, however, with Pep Guardiola's possession-hoarders starting to become even more effective with the ball, thanks in no small part to the man who helped fire Dortmund to the Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012.

Robert Lewandowski has just completed a week in which he scored no fewer than 10 goals in just three matches, including the fastest ever Bundesliga hat-trick and five-goal haul, all in just eight minutes and 59 seconds.

"I'm looking forward to getting even more goals against Dortmund and getting another win," the 27-year-old said in the matchday magazine.

"Of course it's not a normal game for me - I had four very successful years at Dortmund with lots of goals and titles, but now I'm at Bayern."

The man who has taken his place, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, is also setting new records, having scored in all seven of his side's Bundesliga fixtures this season.

All eyes will be on the two clubs' star strikers, therefore, as they look to extend records, but there are plenty of sub-plots which cannot be ignored.

Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman have diminished Bayern's dependence on the injured pair of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Shinji Kagawa have both been showing glimpses of some of their best form for Dortmund lately.

Mats Hummels and Sokratis Papastathopoulos will fancy their chances of taming Lewandowski, given the form they are in, while Jerome Boateng has looked particularly solid at the heart of the Bayern defence.

The ingredients are all there for a classic encounter between two of German football's heavyweights - the 2013 Champions League finalists no less.



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