Dortmund Prepares for Bayern Clash with Renewed Confidence
On the eve of Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund, the noise around the Klassiker is as loud as ever. Not everyone is buying into it.
Roy Makaay, once a ruthless finisher in Bayern colours, offered a cool shrug from afar. Speaking to Sport1, the Dutchman joked he “only knows one Klassiker” – Ajax vs Feyenoord back home in the Netherlands. For him, the Bayern–Dortmund rivalry simply did not carry this kind of weight during his Bundesliga days from 2003 to 2007.
Back then, Dortmund were drifting. Mid-table, financially strained, rarely in a position to bother Bayern over 34 matchdays. The real battles for the title came from elsewhere.
“When I was playing, it wasn’t as big as it has become now. Our main rivals were Schalke, Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen,” Makaay recalled. The history backs him up: Schalke pushed Bayern to the brink in 2001 and again in 2005, while Werder Bremen, under Thomas Schaaf, stormed to the title in 2004 and took the trophy north to the Weserstadion.
The modern narrative of the Klassiker is a newer construct, born from Dortmund’s resurgence under Jürgen Klopp and cemented by repeated title duels, cup finals and a Champions League showdown at Wembley. Makaay’s point underlines how much the landscape has shifted – and how much Dortmund have had to grow just to stand on this stage as genuine rivals.
Fuss backs compact Dortmund to trouble Bayern
If Makaay plays down the mythology, Wolf-Christoph Fuss leans into the football itself. The Sky commentator sees a very real chance for Dortmund to do damage in Munich on Saturday evening.
“Defensively, they are remarkably solid under Niko Kovac,” he told ntv, highlighting the steel that has crept into Dortmund’s game this season. This is not the chaotic, open Dortmund of old. This version closes spaces, stays compact and forces opponents to sweat for every opening.
“Bayern will have to work hard against a very compact defence. They will have to live with the fact that every mistake could be punished,” Fuss warned.
His assessment goes beyond shape and structure. In his view, Kovac has given Dortmund something they have often lacked in the past decade: clear, non-negotiable guidelines that everyone in the squad understands.
According to Fuss, Kovac has “managed to establish clear guidelines in Dortmund that everyone knows they can rely on. Those are things that give you confidence. Even in Munich.”
That last line matters. The Allianz Arena has broken Dortmund more than once, but this time they arrive with numbers that justify a bit of swagger. Both sides sit at the top of the Bundesliga table, Bayern only ahead on goal difference. One result can flip the standings and the storyline. A Dortmund win would not just bruise Bayern’s ego; it would send them above the champions and crank up the pressure heading into the winter stretch.
Karetsas returns as Dortmund travel at near full strength
The squad list for the trip south offers Kovac a few more reasons to feel optimistic.
Ruhr Nachrichten report that 18-year-old attacking talent Konstantinos Karetsas has been included in the 20-man group travelling to Munich. It is a rapid turnaround for the Greek youngster, who suffered an ankle ligament injury in the Bundesliga match against Union Berlin around two weeks ago. Initial fears pointed to a longer lay-off. The final diagnosis was kinder.
Karetsas will not be thrown straight into the fire. A starting berth at the Allianz Arena is considered unlikely, with the teenager expected to begin on the bench. Even so, his presence gives Kovac another option between the lines if the game turns into a tactical grind or stretches late on.
Two more familiar faces are also back in the frame. Defender Ramy Bensebaini returns from a red-card suspension, restoring depth on the left side of the back line. Goalkeeper Alexander Meyer is available again after a flu-like infection, shoring up the goalkeeping department behind the established No. 1.
For a club that has often limped into big games with key absentees, travelling to the Bavarian capital with a largely complete squad feels like a small but significant shift. Dortmund arrive ready, not patched up.
Pulisic’s Milan rise underlines Dortmund’s production line
Away from the immediate heat of Bayern vs Dortmund, another story with black-and-yellow roots emerged in Italy.
Christian Pulisic, once the bright hope of Dortmund’s wing play, has signed a long-term contract extension with AC Milan. The club confirmed on Friday, one day before the Derby della Madonnina against Inter, that the US international has committed his future at San Siro until June 2031.
Milan’s statement underlined his impact: 44 goals in 141 games for the Rossoneri, numbers that speak to both productivity and importance. Since arriving from Chelsea in July 2023, Pulisic has grown into what the club now openly call a “key player”.
For Dortmund, it is another reminder of the pathway they have built. Pulisic left the Bundesliga in 2019, but his trajectory – from raw teenager at the Westfalenstadion to central figure at a European giant – fits neatly into the club’s broader story of developing and exporting elite talent.
On the eve of a Klassiker that Makaay once barely recognised, Dortmund stand in a very different place: shoulder to shoulder with Bayern in the table, armed with a hardened defensive structure, a deepening squad, and a track record of producing players who shape the European game.
Now comes the question that will define the night in Munich: can this version of Dortmund turn all that into a statement result in the champions’ own backyard?
