Der Klassiker Dominion: Where Power Meets Passion in the Heart of German Football | OneFootball

Der Klassiker is well known for the passion, the drama, the battle and the fight and for years and years, the two giants of German football have gone toe to toe season after season to crown themselves the Kings of this famous, thrilling fixture.

Whilst Bayern Munich have dominated German football by picking up numerous trophies over the years, in some sort of way some may think they are still in the shadow of Borussia Dortmund when it comes to Der Klassiker games.

Let’s take a look through the years, all the way through to present day, and see why Der Klassiker is such a special fixture in the German football calendar.

What is Der klassiker?

Der Klassiker is a highly competitive game that takes place between the two giants of German football, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

This is known as the classic in English or the German El Clasico, with it being a game between two of the most successful sides in German football.

Of the last 32 Bundesliga champions, 27 of those were won by either Bayern or Dortmund, which just highlights the dominance and success both have in Germany.

However, some people dispute the nature of the rivalry between the sides. Some believe that it can’t be a classic when there’s little historical background to the rivalry in comparison to other rivalries such as Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke and Bayern Munich vs FC Nürnberg.

History of Der Klassiker

The first meeting between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich took place in October 1965; Borussia Dortmund won the game 2-0 in a Bundesliga clash.

The sides have met 137 times, with Bayern Munich winning the most games (67). That includes an infamous victory way back in 1971 in the Bundesliga when they quite simply ripped Dortmund to shreds, winning 11-1. To this day that remains the biggest ever victory in Der Klassiker.

Funnily enough, that 11-1 win over Borussia Dortmund remains Bayern Munich’s biggest ever Bundesliga victory. For Borussia Dortmund, only a 12-0 defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach in April 1978 is worse than the 11-1 thumping.

The highest-scoring draw in Der Klassiker came in 1983 where a late equaliser from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge rescued a point for Bayern Munich against Borussia Dortmund and the game ended 4-4.

How did the rivalry begin? The beginning of a feud

The rivalry wasn’t really a rivalry until the 1990s; prior to that, Der Klassiker wasn’t really a thing, with Bayern’s big challengers being Hamburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

What triggered this feud between Bayern and Dortmund to begin was the fact that the latter started to grow in stature. They had more success and even beat Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 1994/95 and 1995/96.

The rivalry started to catch fire the following season in 1996/97 when Bayern Munich captain Lothar Matthäus accused Borussia Dortmund’s Andreas Möller of being a crybaby and wiping imaginary tears from his face.

Borussia Dortmund went on to win the Champions League that season, beating Juventus in the final and a little ironically, it was at Bayern Munich’s home stadium, Olympiastadion.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund met in the Quarter Final of the Champions League in 1997/98, with the then European champions Borussia Dortmund defeating Bayern Munich over two legs to reach the Semi Final thanks to a single goal from Stephane Chapuisat.

Tempers truly flared when they met for the second time in 1998/99, this time in the Bundesliga, where Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver kahn attempted a flying kung-fu kick at Chapuisat and then he later appeared to have bitten Heiko Herrlich’s ear. Absolute madness! And this is the moment Der Klassiker was born into life.

The 2000s

Both clubs remained successful heading into the 21st century. Borussia Dortmund won the 2001/02 Bundesliga title as well as the UEFA Cup. Bayern Munich also had success domestically as well as on the continental stage too by winning the 2001 Champions League, two years after they were left heartbroken late on in Barcelona by Manchester United.

2001 also saw the angriest Der Klassiker to date, with it being notable for ten yellow cards and three red cards, a record for lack of discipline in Bundesliga history.

Borussia Dortmund soon fell into debt and by 2004, despite all the success over the previous decade, including victories in Der Klassiker over Bayern Munich, they were facing the threat of bankruptcy.

Had it not been for a €2M from Bayern, Dortmund would’ve gone bankrupt and maybe today they wouldn’t be here as we know them. You may ask why Bayern would help them since they hate Dortmund, But it just shows that despite fierce rivalry, there’s also respect.

Dortmund had a massive rebuild on their hands to get back to the levels they had reached before. Four years later, they did reach the DFB Pokal final, where they met Bayern Munich. Luca Toni broke the deadlock after 11 minutes for Bayern in this Der Klassiker but a stoppage-time equaliser from Mladen Petrić saw Dortmund take it into extra time. Sadly for them though, Luca Toni would go on to score his second goal, which saw Bayern win the cup.

The 2010s – Der Klassiker in the modern era

After being saved from bankruptcy in the mid-2000s, Borussia Dortmund were able to rebuild and they put together a strong team that could challenge Bayern Munich.

This included the likes of Mats Hummels, Mario Götze, Shinji Kagawa and Robert Lewandowski, who helped Dortmund to Bundesliga success in 2011 and 2012 under Jurgen Klopp. Dortmund also became the first team that wasn’t Bayern Munich to win consecutive league titles since they did so themselves in the mid-1990s.

Dortmund won the title in 2011/12 in Der Klassiker at home against Bayern Munich, where bananas were thrown at Manuel Neuer. Borussia Dortmund also completed the double for the first time in their history that same season, as they beat Bayern Munich in a Der Klassiker DFB Pokal final, winning 5-2 with Robert Lewandowski shining by scoring a hattrick. That also marked Dortmund’s fifth consecutive Der Klassiker victory.

The 2012/13 campaign was a crucial one for Bayern. They missed out on two league titles to Klopp’s Dortmund and they also got beat by Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League final at their own stadium, the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich went on to reclaim their Bundesliga crown in 2012/13 and they also reached the Champions League final for a second consecutive season; this time they met Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker at Wembley. The German Clasico term was used for the first time with the German giants beating Barcelona and Real Madrid on the path to making the final at Wembley. The build up was also interesting with Gotze agreeing to join Bayern a few weeks prior, although he’d play no part in the final due to injury.

Despite that though and with it being an all-German final, it would be a Dutchman who’d shine brightest, as Arjen Robben got a dramatic 89th-minute goal to win the Champions League for Bayern Munich and also break Dortmund hearts in the process. Bayern then went on to complete their first ever treble as they won the DFB Pokal.

Following that 2012/13 season, Bayern and Dortmund would meet in numerous cup matches in the following seasons.

This includeD the 2014 DFB Pokal final, where Bayern won thanks to two goals in extra time; the 2014/15 DFL Super Cup, where Dortmund won 2-0 at the Signal Iduna Park with Robert Lewandowski returning to his former home after joining Bayern from Dortmund on a free transfer; the 2016 DFB Pokal final, which Bayern won on penalties after a goalless draw; the 2016 DFL Super Cup, which Bayern won 2-0; and the 2017 DFL Super Cup, which Bayern won on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

In March 2018, Bayern Munich recorded the biggest win in a Der Klassiker match since that 11-1 match in 1971 by beating Dortmund 6-0 in a Bundesliga match.

Bayern also beat Dortmund in the 2021 DFL Super Cup.

Last time out in Der Klassiker

Last time Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund met in Der Klassiker, it was in April and it was also at the Allianz. Bayern were on the verge of winning the Bundesliga, reclaiming their crown from Bayer Leverkusen, who were domestically invincible in 2023/24. Borussia Dortmund were on a good run of form as well, having been unbeaten since March at the time.

It finished 2-2 but some would argue that the result didn’t truly reflect the game as a whole, where Bayern had long spells of control and sustained attacking pressure throughout. The goals came from Max Beier, Raphael Guerreiro, Serge Gnabry and Waldemar Anton.

The latest team news

Bayern Munich are still without Josip Stanisic, who remains injured. Raphael Guerreiro is also a doubt for the match. But Vincent Kompany confirmed that everyone else who was fit prior to the international break is available for selection.

Meanwhile for Borussia Dortmund, Niko Kovac confirmed Serhou Guirassy is in contention to play after he picked up a knock in the previous game.

Key information for this weekend’s Der Klassiker

When is it? 18th October 2025