Der Klassiker preview - How Dortmund can beat Bayern and blow Bundesliga title race wide open

As soon as the Bundesliga confirmed it was planning to resume after being suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, fans immediately circled May 26 in the diary.

For whilst it might not be a clasico in the sense of its Spanish counterpart or say, the Old Firm Derby, the fixture between Dortmund and Bayern is one of the most important in the German calendar.

It is not necessarily born out of historic clashes, or a fierce hatred of either side, more a sense of necessity, as the two best teams in the country go head-to-head. The two teams have won the last 10 titles between them, albeit heavily weighted eight to two in Bayern’s favour. If anyone is going to stop Bayern from making it nine in the last eleven and eight in a row, it has to be Dortmund.

Win or draw and it’s hard to see how any side (be that Dortmund, RB Leipzig or Bayer Leverkusen) will be able to catch Bayern, but a Dortmund win blows things wide open with six games remaining. After Dortmund, Bayern still have to play the remaining four members of the top six.

But for all of that to be relevant Dortmund will need to beat Bayern, something that hasn’t happened to the Bavarians since a 2-1 loss at Borussia Monchengladbach back at the start of December. Sixteen wins out of seventeen have followed since, with RB Leipzig the only team proving capable of stopping Hansi Flick’s revitalised juggernaut.

On that note, aiming to stop Bayern probably shouldn’t be too high on Dortmund’s agenda, as we discussed on Saturday. Bayern have notched 26 goals in their past eight matches in all competitions and on Saturday the imperious Robert Lewandowski moved to 40 goals for the season.

Combine that with Dortmund shipping 24 goals in their last six league matches against Bayern and it quickly becomes evident that it is going to be case of scoring one more than them for Dortmund. Erling Haaland, playing against Bayern for the first time, will hold the key for Dortmund.

Bayern have the second-best defence in the league but it is make-shift in many regards. David Alaba and Alphonso Davies have both been excellent this season but both are playing out of position. Haaland is intelligent enough to know that and expect him to drift wide to the right on the regular.

There he should be supported by Achraf Hakimi, one of the stars of the past two games, alongside potentially Jadon Sancho, depending on whether or not the livewire Englishman is fit enough to start. On that note Dortmund might well be able to welcome back Axel Witsel at some stage, with boss Lucien Favre confirming that the Belgian was back in training.

"We will have to see at the last minute but I think it will be alright, 99% Mats will be there," Favre said on Monday. "Axel trained yesterday with the team again and could be in the squad."

Even if Witsel cannot start, which might be a push, Favre will still have Emre Can to call upon, the other star player along with Haaland who wasn’t present the last time these two sides met. The German should add some much-needed solidity up against Bayern’s midfield orchestrators, something Favre is well aware of.

"We do not think back to that first game. We have forgotten it. We did not play well," Favre said.

"We now play a system that better fits our squad and we have also brought in Emre Can and Erling Haaland as reinforcements in the winter who have further increased our quality."

The other big question mark for Favre coming into the match was Mats Hummels, with the experienced centre-back having to go off injured at half-time of Saturday’s 2-0 win over Wolfsburg. Thankfully for fans of the black and yellow the centre-back is likely to be fit, a big relief considering that Dan-Axel Zagadou is already out for the season. As well as dealing with Lewandowski Hummels will be vital for Dortmund from attacking set-pieces. It’s one of the few areas Bayern have looked truly vulnerable from this season.

The problem of course with Bayern is they have more than one way to strike. Even if they can keep Lewandowski quiet, no mean feat when the forward has scored in 12 of his last 14 matches, there are a plethora of other options. Thomas Muller now has 17 assists, more than anybody else in Germany, whilst Davies, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry will try to play Dortmund at their own game.

For every time Dortmund try to get Hakimi and Raphael Guerreiro in behind Bayern will come right back at them with their own wide men. How each side manages this battle promises to be key to the outcome, and it might be where Bayern gain the edge. There are likely to be more gaps in the Dortmund defence and with Goretzka pulling the strings it feels as if Bayern are going to be extremely dangerous, particularly on the counter. And all that is without considering that Bayern still have Manuel Neuer in goal, in arguably the form of his life, and fresh from signing a new contract.

The Bundesliga has been more competitive than ever this season, in many ways it has been a perfect advert for the league. But unless someone can find a way to trouble Bayern the same old problems will continue to exist. Can Dortmund find what they, and the rest of the league, need?