Der Klassiker represents the Bundesliga’s most high profile game and rightly so as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are the 2 most successful teams in Germany since the inception of the Bundesliga.
In recent memory, the Dortmund Bayern rivalry has peaked in the last few years as under Jurgen Klopp, Dortmund have emerged as genuine title and Champions League contenders (apart from this season obviously). The contrast in approach to big spending Bayern Munich and the fact that high profile players such as Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze have made the switch to Bavaria has only added fuel to the fire.
Neven Subotic exchanging a few polite words with Arjen Robben after the latter’s penalty miss
However to consider this rivalry a by product of Dortmund’s resurgence under Klopp would be wrong. There’s a clear historical precedent for the bad blood between the 2 German Giants dating back to the 1990s. It was a period in which the rivals traded blow for blow.
A match that symbolized the rivalry in this period was one that took place in 1997. The reigning Champions Dortmund hosted Bayern Munich with the visiting side holding a 6 point lead heading into the fixture. It was built up to be a high intensity affair and it did not disappoint with a fast start and plenty of tackles flying in. However, the match was memorable for a clash between two legends of German football Andreas Moller and Lothar Matthaus.
Andreas Moller had an unsavory reputation of being a bit of a “crybaby” after a diving incident a couple of years before the match. Thus, when Moller felt that he had been fouled and aired his grievance to the referee, Matthaus took objection to it and was quick to remind his compatriot of his reputation.
The official Bundesliga YouTube channel takes us down a trip down memory lane with highlights of the game and that infamous incident.
