But I believe that the championship will be decided between Bayern and Dortmund. "They've been doing an excellent job so far. Freiburg are in fourth place and could have been higher if not for recent one-goal losses to Bochum and Bayern. "Some teams have surprised me - Freiburg being one of them," Lahm said. While the league has produced some pleasant surprises, it's easy to see this as a two-team race. Alexander Hassenstein - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Imagesĭespite Bayern's better form in Europe, the two teams are indeed separated by just one point in the Bundesliga table, and nobody else is within six points of the top. Lewandowski and Bayern are in rampant form, despite a couple of recent hiccups, but Der Klassiker will put them to the test.
Bayern still have Leon Goretzka, with Tolisso and Pavard both available, but they might not enjoy the same midfield advantage they typically do against BVB. Right-back Benjamin Pavard, who often tucks into a midfield role during buildup play, missed the first month of the season with an ankle injury, Corentin Tolisso missed the next month with a calf issue, and now summer acquisition Marcel Sabitzer has suffered a calf injury as well. Joshua Kimmich has missed time due to quarantine and a positive coronavirus test - he's out for Saturday's match as well. New manager Julian Nagelsmann, who himself missed a couple of matches due to a positive coronavirus test, has been forced to juggle his lineups, particularly in the midfield. But 2-1 losses to Eintracht Frankfurt and Augsburg provided some unexpected dropped points, and they were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal in jarring fashion via a 5-0 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach. But even with a diminished lineup, they've managed to eke out key wins in league play, most recently winning 3-1 in Wolfsburg last Saturday.īayern's issues haven't been quite as significant, and they certainly haven't impacted the club's Champions League status: the 2020 European champions have won all five of their group stage matches so far by a combined 19-3. Ajax, Reece James and more: It's time to take these clubs and players seriouslyīVB's issues mostly snuck up on them in Champions League play, where they began with two wins, but lost three straight matches by a combined 10-2 and were relegated to the Europa League knockout rounds.I believe he's still in the process of finding the right system that fits for Dortmund, but for that, again, he needs healthy players." Editor's Picks "For that reason he might have experimented around a bit, and it hasn't always worked well. "He's had the rather poor luck of having a great many injuries to deal with," Lahm said. We therefore haven't yet gotten a clear vision of what Rose wants to implement in Dortmund, either. But other core players like left-back Raphael Guerreiro, winger Gio Reyna, midfielders Emre Can and Mahmoud Dahoud, attacking midfielder Thorgan Hazard and defender Mats Hummels have all missed time as well, while burgeoning star midfielder Jude Bellingham also suffered a minor injury last week his status for Saturday is uncertain.Īs the midway point of the season approaches, first-year manager Marco Rose has barely had a chance to field his full, first-choice lineup, even in practice. Borussia Dortmund have seriously missed star striker Erling Haaland, absent for six Bundesliga matches and three Champions League matches with injury. 17, Bayern's sixth straight win in the head-to-head series, both teams have battled injuries and random bouts of inconsistency. Since Bayern's 3-1 win over BVB in Germany's Super Cup on Aug. Don't have ESPN? Get instant access The teams are separated by just one point in the Bundesliga table ESPN+ viewers' guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more What's happened since the last time these German heavyweights last faced off? To answer this question, I both dove into the statistics and spoke with former Bayern Munich and German national team captain Philipp Lahm.
Borussia Dortmund - resuming Saturday in Dortmund ( watch LIVE, 12:30 pm ET, ESPN+), let's indeed do some checking in. With the Bundesliga's Der Klassiker - Bayern Munich vs. They give us an excuse to check in on two key teams, see how everything is going and see what has happened since the last time said teams met. Derbies, rivalry matches and clasicos serve as useful mile markers over the course of a long soccer season.