In the Bundesliga on Saturday night, Dortmund takes on Bayern Munich. After eight games, the two rivals are level on 15 points, but Bayern has moved up a spot thanks to their significantly higher goal differential.
Despite losing two of their last three league games, Dortmund should be confident going into their encounter with Bayern, especially after winning an incredible 4-1 victory away against Sevilla in the Champions League midweek. Jude Bellingham of England, who led BVB in Seville, along with Raphael Guerreiro, Karim Adeyemi, and Julian Brandt, became the first youngster to score in three straight Champions League games as Edin Terzic’s club bounced back from their disheartening 3-2 loss away to FC Koln last weekend.
Dortmund were without a number of players owing to injuries before their trip to Cologne. However, they would have been upset to come away empty-handed after grabbing the lead at the interval thanks to a goal from Brandt, especially because Bayern moved back ahead of them in the league rankings before Der Klassiker.
At this point in the season, Terzic, 39, would have taken the opportunity to be tied with the Bavarians in points along with earning six out of a possible nine points to move into second place in Group G.
But Bayern’s trip to Dortmund on Saturday could be their toughest test of the year, and it might be a better indication of whether they’ve put their record-breaking drought of going four league games without a win before the break behind them. Their depth will be tested, especially in central midfield where they are undermanned in comparison to the rest of Europe’s elite teams, as Muller and Joshua Kimmich, two of their most seasoned leaders, will be sidelined due to testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
On their finest days, Bayern Munich’s squad can easily defeat any opponent, so they can view Dortmund as the ideal game to restart their season. Sane and Mane have both been scoring goals at a high rate lately.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting XI:
Kobel; Meunier, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Can, Ozcan; Adeyemi, Brandt, Malen
Bayern Munich possible starting XI:
Neuer; Pavard, Upamecano, De Ligt, Davies; Sabitzer, Goretzka; Sane, Musiala, Mane; Gnabry
