Previewing 'Der Klassiker,' the Bundesliga's biggest game

9:00 AM ET

• Tom Hamilton

  CloseSenior Writer
  • Joined ESPN in 2011
  • Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours
  • Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018

• Stephan Uersfeld

Saturday will bring the biggest game in the Bundesliga to date and perhaps the biggest game across all of soccer as Borussia Dortmund host Bayern Munich. (Stream it LIVE in the U.S. on ESPN+, Saturday 12 p.m. ET.)

It's second-place in the league hosting first and sets up to be a true Goliath vs. Goliath: Dortmund's youth-driven movement, led by Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho and Giovanni Reyna, against the experienced, trophy-winning collective of Bayern, who can count on Robert Lewandowski, Joshua Kimmich and Manuel Neuer to lead them through virtually any challenge.

-- Teng: Why Erling Haaland could become world's best striker
--Stream LIVE: Dortmund vs. Bayern, Saturday 11/7, 12 p.m ET, ESPN+ (U.S. only)
-- Bundesliga on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)

"Der Klassiker," as their rivalry is known, never fails to deliver drama and talking points even though Bayern have clinched the Bundesliga title a remarkable eight straight times, and a record 30 times overall. Dortmund have only won two of the past 10 league meetings against their Bavarian foes, last doing it in 2018, but anything's possible this weekend.

To get you ready for the big game, ESPN's Derek Rae, Tom Hamilton and Stephan Uersfeld run through the nature of the rivalry, the form guide and keys for both teams in terms of winning (or losing) at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.

Jump to: Rae on rivalry's growth | Infamous moments | Form guide | Key players | How game will be won/lost | Stats, trends | Predictions

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Derek Rae: "Der Klassiker" has grown with the times

Amid these unusual times, I don't mind admitting that I'm longing to get back behind the microphone on ESPN+ this weekend, broadcasting the fixture most casual observers assume to be the biggest club match in German football.

"Der Klassiker" is the catchy nickname bestowed upon the Borussia Dortmund-Bayern Munich rivalry in recent years. Understandably, newer Bundesliga viewers probably see it as the ultimate showpiece game given that in the past decade, the coveted Meisterschale for the league champions has been the preserve of these two colossal clubs. No one else has had a look in.

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The truth is when I first began travelling to watching Bundesliga matches in Germany back in the 1980s, it didn't quite carry the resonance of other more established head-to-head confrontations. It certainly lacked the appeal of the often heated Hamburg-Bayern summit meeting between north and south, or of course the gritty "Revierderby" between Westfalen foes Dortmund and Schalke. Instead, Bayern vs. Dortmund was just another game -- albeit high-profile -- between two of the best supported sides in...

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