Bayern vs Dortmund: the story of Der Klassiker

Der Klassiker is the name Germany gave to its game of games: Bayern Munich against Borussia Dortmund. It is not a city derby nor a century-old feud: it is a duel of eras, the club that has won more than anyone against the only one that, in recent times, has managed to interrupt the march. When the two meet, the whole Bundesliga watches its own mirror.

From regional rivals to the country's axis

The rivalry was truly born in the 1990s. Ottmar Hitzfeld's Dortmund won the German title in 1995 and 1996 and crowned the decade with the 1997 Champions League, toppling Bavarian hegemony just as German football was reinventing itself. For the first time, Bayern had a rival that did not merely annoy: it won.

The second act came with Juergen Klopp. Between 2010 and 2012 his gegenpressing Dortmund won back-to-back German titles, and in 2012 beat Bayern 5-2 in the German Cup final, the result that turned irritation into obsession. Bayern's response would define the following decade.

Wembley and the wounds of the 2010s

On 25 May 2013 the fixture became a Champions League final at Wembley, the first all-German decider in the competition's history. Arjen Robben settled it in the 89th minute: 2-1 to Bayern. In the years that followed, Munich also won off the pitch, signing Mario Goetze in 2013, Robert Lewandowski in 2014 and Mats Hummels in 2016, all straight from the rival dressing room. Every transfer fed the fixture a fresh grievance.

The Klassiker in numbers

The numbers explain the imbalance, not the fascination. The fascination comes from the contrast: the Munich machine against the Yellow Wall, Europe's biggest standing terrace; the club that buys the best against the club that unveils them. That is why the Klassiker remains the match Germany stops to watch: it does not merely decide points, it decides which idea of football runs the country.