Der Klassiker in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
''(The Classic)'',
[ also known as the "German Clásico", is the name given to any ]football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
match between Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
and Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
. They are two of the most successful teams in German football, having won a combined total of 27 of the past 32 Bundesliga titles as of the 2024–25 season. The two teams fought closely for the Bundesliga title in the early 2010s, and met in the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.
However, the nature of the rivalry has been called into question, with many disputing the fixture being a "classic" due to there being little historic rivalry between the teams, in contrast to the long history of many other prominent football derbies in Germany, including Dortmund's Revierderby
The Revierderby () is the name given to any association football match between two List of football clubs in Germany, clubs in the Ruhr region – also known in German as the ', a contraction of ''Bergbaurevier'' (mining area) – in North Rhine- ...
with FC Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...
, the various Bavarian football derbies involving Bayern Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg, and the elder 70s rivalry between Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...
.
History
First meeting and mutual successes
The first match between the two clubs was a 2–0 win for Dortmund in Munich on 16 October 1965.
On 5 May 1966, Dortmund won the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup
The 1965–66 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Borussia Dortmund in an extra-time final victory over Liverpool at Hampden Park in Glasgow. West Ham United were the defending champions, but were eliminat ...
2–1 against Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in extra time, becoming the first German club to win a European title. Bayern Munich won the same competition the following season.
In 1971, Bayern defeated Dortmund 11–1; this remain's Bayern's biggest Bundesliga victory and Dortmund's second worst defeat,[ after Dortmund's worst defeat of 12–0 v Borussia Mönchengladbach on 29 April 1978.
On the other hand, the highest scoring draw in a Bundesliga match between the two teams occurred on 21 May 1983, when ]Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge (; born 25 September 1955) is a German football executive and former professional player. Considered as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest German footballers ever, he was also the longt ...
scored a late equaliser to save Bayern from a defeat against hosts Dortmund, with a final scoreline of 4–4.
The feud begins
The rivalry between the clubs grew during the 1990s, as Dortmund's stature increased to challenge perennial title favourites Bayern, winning two Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
titles in 1994–95 and 1995–96.
In 1996, Bayern captain Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. He captained Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and was ...
accused Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
teammate Andreas Möller
Andreas Möller (born 2 September 1967) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is the head of the youth department at Eintracht Frankfurt.
From 1985 to 2004 Möller played in ...
of being a 'crybaby', wiping imaginary tears from his face; Möller reacted by slapping Matthäus. At the end of that season, Dortmund won the 1997 UEFA Champions League final
The 1997 UEFA Champions League final was a football match played at the Olympiastadion in Munich on 28 May 1997 to determine the winner of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by Borussia Dortmund of Germany and defending ...
which happened to be played at the Olympiastadion, Bayern's home ground.[
The teams met in the quarter-finals of the next edition of the Champions League, and Dortmund prevailed over two legs thanks to a single goal from ]Stéphane Chapuisat
Stéphane Chapuisat (born 28 June 1969) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the sporting director of BSC Young Boys.
A prolific goalscorer for both club and country (for which he appeared more than ...
. That summer, Bayern hired Dortmund's successful coach Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld (; born 12 January 1949) is a German former professional football player and a former manager. He accumulated a total of 18 major titles, mostly in his tenures with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. ...
to work for them. Tempers flared twice during Bayern and Dortmund's second meeting in the 1998–99 Bundesliga
The 1998–99 Bundesliga was the 36th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 14 August 1998 and ended on 29 May 1999. 1. FC Kaiserslautern were the defending champions.
Competition modus
Every team played two ga ...
, as Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn
Oliver Rolf Kahn (; born 15 June 1969) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in t ...
first attempted a flying kung-fu kick at Chapuisat, and later appeared to bite Heiko Herrlich's ear.[
In the early 2000s both clubs remained successful, as Bayern lost one Champions League final (]1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
) then won another (2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
) in addition to more domestic success, while Dortmund won the 2001–02 Bundesliga
The 2001–02 Bundesliga was the 39th season of the Bundesliga. It began on 28 July 2001 and concluded on 4 May 2002.
Teams
Eighteen teams competed in the league – the top fifteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promote ...
and reached the UEFA Cup final the same year. An angry 2001 league meeting between the pair was notable for ten yellow cards and three red being shown (a Bundesliga record for indiscipline).[ However, Dortmund soon fell heavily into debt, and a €2m loan from Bayern in 2004 was a major reason for them being saved from ]bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
.[
On 19 April 2008, the two sides clashed in the 2008 DFB-Pokal final for the first time that took place in ]Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Luca Toni
Luca Toni (; born 26 May 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, Toni scored over 300 goals throughout his career, and is one of the top-five highest scoring Italians in all competition ...
opened the scoring after eleven minutes, but Mladen Petric drew Dortmund level in stoppage time, forcing thirty additional minutes. The Italian completed his double in extra time, thus lifting Bayern to cup glory.
Dortmund revival
By 2010, Dortmund had put together a strong squad, including Mats Hummels
Mats Julian Hummels (; born 16 December 1988) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his well-timed tackles, accurate long passes from the back, aerial ability and strength, he is r ...
, Mario Götze
Mario Götze (; born 3 June 1992) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays for club Eintracht Frankfurt. Although his favoured position is that of an attacking or central midfielder, he has also played as a Winger (f ...
, Shinji Kagawa
Shinji Kagawa (, ''Kagawa Shinji'' ; born 17 March 1989) is a Japanese professional footballer and football manager who plays as a midfielder. He is widely regarded as one of the best Japanese players of all time.
Kagawa became the first midfie ...
and Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of a ...
, who led the club to the 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and 2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
Bundesliga titles; it was the first time any club other than Bayern won back-to-back championships since Dortmund in the mid-1990s. Dortmund clinched the 2011–12 league championship in a home match where bananas were tossed at Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer
Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for and captain (association football), captains club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munic ...
. Dortmund then claimed the first double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
of their history by beating Bayern 5–2 in the 2012 DFB-Pokal final with a Lewandowski hat-trick, which was also their fifth consecutive win over the opponents.
Champions League final at Wembley
After seeing two league championships heading to Dortmund and losing the 2012 UEFA Champions League final
The 2012 UEFA Champions League final was an association football match which took place on Saturday, 19 May 2012 between Bayern Munich of Germany and Chelsea of England at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. The match was to decide the winner ...
to Chelsea at their own Allianz Arena
Allianz Arena (; known as Munich Football Arena for UEFA competitions) is a Association football, football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, with a 70,000 seating capacity for international matches and 75,000 for domestic matches. Widely kno ...
, Bayern recovered to clinch the 2012–13 Bundesliga
The 2012–13 Bundesliga was the 50th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season began on 24 August 2012 with the season opening match at Westfalenstadion involving defending champions Borussia Dortmund and SV Werde ...
in record time, breaking Dortmund's points record which had been set the year before. At the end of that season, the rivals met in the 2013 UEFA Champions League final. The German clubs had eliminated the two Spanish contenders, Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, leading to the term "German Clasico" term first being used at that time, based on the El Clásico
El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...
between those two Spanish clubs. The game was also notable for the fact that Dortmund's Mario Götze had already agreed to join Bayern in the coming weeks, although he did not play in the final due to injury.
In the first all-German European final, Arjen Robben
Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger. Known for his Dribbling#Association football, dribbling skills, speed, and long-range s ...
scored a dramatic 89th-minute winner at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
. Bayern would wrap up the first Treble in their history a week later in the 2013 DFB-Pokal final
The 2013 DFB-Pokal Final was an association football match that took place on 1 June 2013 between Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart at the Olympiastadion in Berlin to decide the winners of the 2012–13 DFB-Pokal.
Bayern Munich won the game 3–2, ...
.
Domestic finals and player moves
Following the biggest match involving the teams, several domestic finals were played between them in quick succession. In the 2014 DFB-Pokal final on 17 May 2014, Bayern managed to score two goals in extra time, thus achieving their 17th win in the competition. After that, both clubs met again in the 2014 DFL-Supercup
The 2014 DFL-Supercup was the fifth edition of the German Super Cup under the name DFL-Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions. It featured Bayern Munich, winners o ...
at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park
Westfalenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is the home stadium of Borussia Dortmund. Officially called Signal Iduna Park for sponsorship reasons and BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA competitions, ...
, featuring Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of a ...
who had just moved to Bayern as a free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
after his contract with Dortmund ended. The match ended 2–0 to Dortmund.
Two years later, the 2016 DFB-Pokal final was the last match in Dortmund shirt for their captain Mats Hummels
Mats Julian Hummels (; born 16 December 1988) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his well-timed tackles, accurate long passes from the back, aerial ability and strength, he is r ...
before he also moved to Bayern, where his career had begun; Bayern won the trophy on penalties after a 0–0 draw. They clashed again in the 2016 DFL-Supercup
The 2016 DFL-Supercup was the seventh edition of the German Super Cup under the name DFL-Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions. The match was played on 14 August ...
after Bayern secured a double, Dortmund being runners-up in the league
''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...
as well as beaten cup finalists; the Bavarians won that match 2–0. The 2017 DFL-Supercup
The 2017 DFL-Supercup was the eighth edition of the German super cup under the name DFL-Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions. The match was played on 5 August 2 ...
featured the same teams (champions Bayern and cup holders Dortmund) and the same outcome, this time Bayern winning on penalties after a 2–2 draw. In March 2018, Bayern secured a 6–0 home win over Dortmund in the league
''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...
, the largest margin of victory for either side since the 11–1 result 47 years earlier. The most important recent result has seen Bayern Munich defeat Borussia Dortmund by a score of 3–1 in the 2021 DFL-Supercup
The 2021 DFL-Supercup was the 12th edition of the German super cup under the name DFL-Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions. The match was played on 17 August 202 ...
.
Results history
Bundesliga
DFB-Pokal
DFB-Ligapokal
DFB/DFL-Supercup
UEFA Champions League
Statistics
Overall match statistics
Biggest wins
*Bayern Munich: 11–1, 27 November 1971
*Borussia Dortmund: 4–0, 6 March 1967
Head-to-head ranking in Bundesliga (1964–2025)
• Total: Bayern Munich with 47 higher finishes, Borussia Dortmund with 9 (as of the end of the 2024–25 season).
Honours
* Club holds record in the competition
See also
* Major football rivalries
This list of association football rivalries catalogues football rivalries around the world. This includes rivalries at the club and international level, including local derby and intercontinental competitions. It also lists rivalries between indiv ...
* Sports rivalry
A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees.
One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and the ...
References
External links
Bundesliga.com- Der Klassiker
{{German football rivalries
FC Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
Football rivalries in Germany
1965 establishments in West Germany
Nicknamed sporting events