Lothar Matthäus clearly sees record-breaking champions FC Bayern Munich as favorites in the Bundesliga top game against leaders Borussia Dortmund.
"I'm relatively sure that FC Bayern will win this game because the players know these pressure situations," said the Sky expert of the German Press Agency: "Bayern Munich has actually always in the games in which they had to win, performs."
The fact that the Munich team changed coaches from Julian Nagelsmann to Thomas Tuchel before the big title duel on Saturday (kick-off 6.30 p.m., pre-run from 5.30 p.m. / Sky) also speaks for his ex-club, said the long-time Bayern captain: “Now there is also a new competition, the cards are being reshuffled under Thomas Tuchel. This is a game that comes at exactly the right time for FC Bayern."
Anticipation is "huge"
The slippage to second place in the table, one point behind BVB, is an additional spur to Bayern. "Of course, football Germany is happy about this situation, that the great FC Bayern is suddenly the hunter and no longer the hunted. But they will join forces on Saturday to take back the lead against Dortmund," predicted Matthäus: "And if If they take them back, they won't give them up either."
In any case, there are "best conditions" for "a highlight that not only the fans in Germany, but fans around the world are waiting for," said Matthäus. The anticipation was "huge" beforehand, but now it's "even bigger" thanks to the Tuchel debut.
BVB in the league without a win at FC Bayern since 2014
The Allianz Arena in Munich is now an enchanted place for the BVB pros. That gives little courage for the football summit. In the last eight Bundesliga games, there have been defeats without exception. In addition, the sobering record of 6:33 goals reflects the inferiority. "There were times when it was all about honor and pride in Munich in April," commented BVB coach Edin Terzic.
Borussia suffered its heaviest defeat in this period on March 31, 2018, when it went down 6-0 under the direction of coach Peter Stöger. The Dortmund team, now coached by Lucien Favre, did not fare much better a year later. On April 6, 2019, they arrived two points ahead of Bayern as leaders in the table, but were humiliated again at 0: 5. Bayern passed and ended up winning again with a two-point lead.
The last league victory of a Dortmund coach at the title holders of the last ten years was achieved by Jürgen Klopp on the 30th day of the 2013/14 season. But at 3-0 his team was only challenged to a limited extent. After all, the Munich team were already set as champions.
However, Borussia can draw confidence for the summit this Saturday from two cup games. In the two semi-finals in April 2015 (2-0 on pens) and April 2017 (3-2), the arch-rival was defeated in front of a home crowd in Munich.
