It is forever the biggest game in the German football calendar! FC Bayern will be the guests at Borussia Dortmund's on Tuesday evening, 18:30 CEST, in the Bundesliga's top match. Be it legendary league fixtures, DFB Cup finals in Berlin or the unforgettable Champions League final of 2013, meetings between the two teams always deliver very special moments. Tuesday evening will be a milestone 'Klassiker': it will be the 125th time that the two rivals meet. To mark the occasion, fcbayern.com looks at the most important records from the battles between the red and whites and the black and yellows.
Longest winning series: Both teams equal
With each having five consecutive wins in a row over the other, Bayern and BVB are tied in terms of winning runs. Between April 1968 and February 1970, Bayern won five times against the men from Westphalia, who in turn recorded their five-match streak between 2010 and 2012.
Highest FCB victory: A dozen goals in the highest-scoring match
Twelve goals were scored between Bayern and Dortmund on 27 November 1971 – more than in any other Klassiker in Bundesliga history. In fact, never more than a dozen goals have even been scored in a Bundesliga match. From Dortmund's point of view, however, it was a rather one-sided affair against them, with the Munich team winning 11-1 and Gerd Müller scoring four times, the only time a player has scored four times in one game in the fixture. Lothar Emmerich scored the only BVB hat-trick in Klassiker history in Dortmund's 6-3 victory in September 1967. It was the record champions' largest defeat to their old foe.
Most prolific player: Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski has already scored 16 Bundesliga goals against Dortmund. Oo other Bayern player has scored so often against BVB, even outdoing Gerd Müller, who notched 14. The goalscorer is also the only player aside from Roland Wohlfahrt to have scored at least one goal in four consecutive Klassikers. In the last six matches against BVB, Lewandowski has found the net a total of nine times. In total, he has scored 23 times in this fixture across all competitions: 18 for Bayern and five for Dortmund.
Youngest player: Tanko ahead of Höjberg
Ibrahim Tanko was substituted on for BVB in October 1994 against Bayern at the tender age of 17 years and 88 days. The former striker is thus the youngest player ever to play in der Klassiker. Nuri Sahin, on the other hand, is the youngest player to be named in a starting line-up for the game (aged 17 years and 103 days). Pierre-Emil Höjberg came on as a sub against Dortmund at the age of 17 years and 244 days, making him the youngest Bayern player in this clash.
Currently the most experienced: Lewandowski & Müller
From the current squads of both clubs, Lewandowski is 'Mr. Klassiker'. The frontman has made a total of 33 appearances in this match, 19 for Bayern and 14 on the other side. The Pole has also been able to celebrate the most victories amongst current players, with 17 wins. Thomas Müller has the most Klassiker appearances for one club, having featured 33 times in Bayern colours.
Coach who oversaw the most Klassikers: Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld has been in the coach's dugout for a total of 29 Klassikers, a record! In 16 games he was in charge of the men from Bavaria, whilst he led BVB a further 13 times. In total, he was able to celebrate 12 victories. Jupp Heynckes took charge of Bayern in 20 matches against BVB. Dortmund's record coach in der Klassiker is Jürgen Klopp, with 22 games. This will be Hansi Flick's second experience of the fixture as a head coach, while for his opposite number Lucien Favre it's already his fifth.
Most clinical from the spot: Paul Breitner
In Bundesliga meetings only, both sides have been awarded 11 penalties each. Bayern have converted eight of those, one more than Dortmund. Paul Breitner has stepped up the spot the most times for Bayern, taking three penalties and scoring all three.
Bayern take the lead more often
Out of the 124 previous encounters, Bayern have gone in front in 69 of them, with Borussia scoring the first goal of the game 48 times. The men from Munich have gone on to win 51 of those games in which they've taken the lead, BVB 27. Lewandowski (six) is again in front of Gerd Müller (five) when it comes to the most opening goals in this fixture. He's opened the scoring five times for Bayern and once for his former club.
More on tonight's big match:
Topics of this article