Borussia Dortmund vs. FC Bayern: The facts ahead of der Klassiker

The German Clásico, Bayern's clean sheets, Harry Kane creating more records and BVB's impressive home form - the numbers and stats ahead of Bundesliga Matchday 12's standout fixture between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern on Saturday evening (18:30 CET) point to it being a spectacular affair. We've put together all the key facts relating to the match for you.

The eagerly awaited clash between Borussia and Bayern is of particular relevance to both sets of fans, and not just because of the many high-quality matches in the past. It's also a true Bundesliga classic. Saturday will be the 136th time that the Black and Yellows have faced off against the Reds - no other fixture has been played so often in German professional football. BVB have suffered the most defeats in their history against the men from Munich (67), while FCB have also suffered the most defeats against Dortmund (33). The German football community can't wait for the weekend to see who will come out on top this time round.

Seven clean sheets

Minjae Kim was the most popular man in Tuesday's important 1-0 home win against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League - not only because of his golden goal, but also because of yet another resolute defensive performance. The South Korean and his partner Dayot Upamecano are at the heart of a defence that has been outstanding of late. FC Bayern's clean sheet against PSG was their seventh consecutive one in competitive matches - a run they'll be looking to extend in Dortmund. The last time Bayern went five consecutive Bundesliga games without conceding a goal was in 2017 under Carlo Ancelotti; the last time they managed six was during Pep Guardiola's tenure in December 2014.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany has celebrated picking up 29 points from his first 11 games in the German top flight so far this season - a feat previously achieved by Guardiola in the 2012/13 season and, if you convert the three-point rule, Klaus Toppmöller in 1993/94 with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Toppmöller's son Dino, the former assistant coach at FC Bayern, is now head coach at Frankfurt and is currently in second place in the table with SGE. Six points separate the Eagles from FC Bayern, who are still unbeaten in the Bundesliga. In the past 24 years, the gap between first and second place after 11 matchdays has only been this big once before: in the Reds' treble-winning season of 2012/13, the German record champions actually had a seven-point lead over runners-up Schalke 04. Let's hope that this stat is a good omen for the current season...

Neuer in the top 3

Unsurprisingly, a crucial part of Bayern's strong defence is five-time winner of the IFFHS World's best goalkeeper award Manuel Neuer, who not only celebrated another clean sheet against PSG, but also excelled at what has become his trademark footballing exploits. In Dortmund, the 38-year-old two-time CL winner is now set to play in his 512th Bundesliga game, which would equal Uli Stein's tally and put him in joint third place on the list of appearances made by a goalkeeper in division 1. Only Eike Immel (534) and Bayern legend Oliver Kahn (557) have played more games as a keeper in the German top flight.

Kane and Musiala lead the line

As one cog is currently meshing perfectly with the other at FCB, this functioning defence is also complemented by a dangerous attack. Centre-forward Harry Kane scored a 'lupenreiner Hattrick' (three goals inside one half with no interruption from any other scorer) in the last Bundesliga outing against FC Augsburg, landing him with goals number 48, 49 and 50. No other player in league history has needed so few appearances to score 50 goals. Erling Haaland follows in second place in this list with 50 games. The hat-trick against FCA was also Kane's seventh in the Bundesliga - yet another record! In second place by a significant margin is Dieter Müller (123 games).

With 43 Bundesliga appearances under his belt, Kane now has just one fewer brace (seven) than he did after 320 games in the Premier League (eight). Something else that has consistently caught the eye in recent weeks is how clinical Kane is when it comes to penalties. He's scored all ten of the ones he's taken in Germany so far, but he'll have to keep going if he's to equal Hans-Joachim Abel's record: The former Schalke and Bochum player converted all 16 of his attempts from the spot.

Jamal Musiala has also been extremely prolific of late and has racked up seven goal contributions in the Bundesliga. He's scored all five of his goals on the road, netting once in each of his five away games so far, so Bayern fans can certainly look forward to a goal-hungry Musiala in the crucial match in Dortmund.

BVB will naturally be aiming to contain FC Bayern's attacking power and break down the strong FCB defence. Coach Nuri Sahin's team will go into the match brimming with confidence, as they're the only side to have won all of their home games this season. This means it's the best home team up against the strongest away team on Saturday evening. In Europe's top five leagues, only Barcelona in Spain, Paris Saint-Germain in France and BVB have yet to concede a point at home. Three points against Bayern would see BVB setting a new club record of winning their first nine home games; including last season, they're currently on a run of 11 wins in front of the Yellow Wall. They've bettered that in professional football just once, in 1994 under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. FC Bayern will be looking to end that run on Saturday.

FC Bayern warmed up for der Klassiker with a win against PSG: