The Bundesliga s biggest showdown of the season takes place on Saturday as Borussia Dortmund host Bayern Munich at Signal Iduna Park.
These teams have shared the last eight domestic titles, as well as five of the last six DFB-Pokals, and their rivalry remains the most talked-about for viewers of German football.
The emergence of RB Leipzig has threatened to upset the balance of power, but it would take a bold individual to bet against early pace-setters Dortmund or the resurgent champions when it comes to this year s title race.
The first Klassiker of the season therefore comes at an intriguing moment, with Bayern leading Dortmund by three points at the summit but only after some early 2017-18 jitters under Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked in September and replaced by Jupp Heynckes.
Ahead of the latest instalment of the rivalry, we pick out some of the most notable facts and figures from decades past
7 Jupp Heynckes is the first coach to win 7 consecutive CL games. Record.
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Top scorers
These days, Bayern and Dortmund are firmly established as European superpowers and they possess two of the world s best strikers in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robert Lewandowski the latter having switched allegiances in moving to the Allianz Arena from Signal Iduna Park in 2014.
But the players who top the scoring charts in this fixture have long since retired, with Lothar Emmerich (eight) of Dortmund calling it quits in 1978 and Bayern s Gerd Muller (14) following suit in 1981.
: s goalscoring machine
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Longest streaks
The last 15 years have been somewhat turbulent for Dortmund, but their change in fortunes towards the end of the previous decade is highlighted by their form in this fixture, as they went six unbeaten against Bayern between October 2010 and May 2013. In that period, they also enjoyed a four-match winning streak – a best for them.
Bayern s best unbeaten sequence of 14 matches between March 1996 and November 2002 is rather more impressive, though their record winning run (five) started way back in April 1968 and finished in February 1970.
Biggest results
The most goals in a single game between these teams is the 12 scored in November 1971. Unfortunately for Dortmund, 11 of those were for Bayern unsurprisingly the Bavarian giants biggest win over their rivals.
Dortmund s record win over Bayern, a 4-0 triumph, came a little over four years earlier in June 1967.
More recently, in September 2009, Bayern secured their most impressive win at Dortmund, as Thomas Muller introduced himself with a brace – his first Bundesliga goals – in a 5-1 thrashing.
and are up for the challenge this weekend ⚔️
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN)
Most appearances
Given he spent every season of a 17-year career at Dortmund, it will not be a huge surprise to learn that Michael Zorc now the sporting director at Signal Iduna Park has played in this fixture 28 times, more than any other player.
Similarly predictable is that Oliver Kahn is second on the list behind Zorc.
The immense goalkeeper, who joined Bayern in 1994 from Karlsruher, played 27 times against Dortmund before retiring in 2008.
