The timing of Saturday's class against Bayern Munich could not have been worse for struggling Borussia Dortmund, apparently on the result with their entire season.
Dortmund will have little time to recover from their 4-0 loss in Barcelona in the quarterfinals first leg of the Champions League on Wednesday, because their focus quickly focuses on a fixture that is always a peak of the Bundesliga calendar.
For example, who reached the Champions League final last season, went down without a fight in Spain, and they would need an incredible change to make progress now.
The result stacked more pressure on coach Niko Kovac and his players prior to the Bayern match, with the team with a serious risk of missing Champions League football next season.
Dortmund, who will be without star defender Nico Schlotterbeck until the end of the season, is in eighth place in 41 points, five behind fourth place with six more games to play.
The care for club bosses is that Dortmund is not eligible for a European competition by finishing outside the top six.
“We will defend much better and much more than we did to Barcelona,” said Kovac.
“Because we will also have serious problems in Munich without defense.”
Full control for Barcelona?
Not entirely.
Absolutely ruthless?
Oh yes. pic.twitter.com/1a6jbeynf
– Opta Analyst (@Optaanalyst) April 9, 2025
Dortmund is unbeaten in their last four Bundesliga matches against League Leaders (W1, D3), currently the longest run of all top-flight teams and BVBs longest since a five-game piece from 2009 to 2013, a period with two Bundesliga titles from their own.
League leaders Bayern have their own motivation in the game, enthusiastic to bounce back from Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinals 2-1 home to Inter, to go in the return leg next week with a shot of trust.
They also want to protect their Zeunt Bundesliga benefit compared to champion Bayern Leverkusen.
While De Baviers still get a chance in the Champions League, every slip-up in the competition can be expensive for Vincent Kompany's injury hit team, because they want to restore the domestic dominance after last season's Leverkusen.
Kompany could have midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic in the team after his absence due to illness.
Kovac was Bayern -head coach from 2018 to 2019. His former club is the only side that he is still without winning as a coach in the Bundesliga (D1, L7).
Dortmund has collected 12 points from their last six Bundesliga competitions (W4, D2), while Bayern 13 (W4, D1) has collected – Only Leverkusen has demanded more points during this period than these two teams (15).
This will be the 137th encounter between Dortmund and Bayern since the Bundesliga has been founded – no other fixture has been played in German professional football.
Bayern has suffered more defeats for eg than against any other side (33).
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