Games between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich have become a feature of the European footballing calendar as their rivalry has blossomed over the last couple of decades.

Here is everything you need to know about the clash between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, known as Der Klassiker.

The pair have become the top two in the Bundesliga with Dortmund often the side pushing Bayern the hardest, with only a final day draw in 2022/23 preventing them from ending the Bavarian club's run of 11 straight domestic titles. 

They meet again at 17:30 on Saturday, with Dortmund fourth in the table on 21 points, two points and as many places below their great rivals.

Der Klassiker Dates

The first Der Klassiker of the season takes place on Saturday 4th November, 2023. 

The pair then resume hostilities, in the Bundesliga at least, on the final weekend of March 2024, with the time and date still to be determined.

Der Klassiker Time

Saturday's first Bundesliga Der Klassiker of the season is due to kick off at 17:30.

Der Klassiker Venues

Der Klassiker is usually played at one of two venues. Signal Iduna Park plays host when Borussia Dortmund are at home, while the Allianz Arena is the venue when Bayern Munich welcome their great rivals. 

They have also met on neutral territory in the past, facing off at Berlin's Olympiastadion in the DFB-Pokal final, while they also did battle at Wembley in the 2013 Champions League final.

Der Klassiker How to Watch

Like all European domestic games, bet365 will stream both Der Klassiker matches in 2023/24 via our Sports Live Streaming service.  

Saturday's match will also be shown on Sky Sports Football and the Sky Sports App.

Der Klassiker Odds

Dortmund, who have claimed 13 of the 15 available points at home in the Bundesliga this season, are 16/5 to win on Saturday, although they have not beaten Bayern at Signal Iduna Park since November 2018.

A draw, as was the case in this game in 2022/23 is 16/5, with a repeat 2-2 priced at 10/1, while Bayern are the clear 7/10 favourites to grab the victory. 

Der Klassiker Head-to-Head

As of October 2023, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich have played one another 133 times in league and cup competitions, having locked horns for the first time in the 1965/66 season when Dortmund won the first meeting 2-0. 

Bayern have won 66 games, Dortmund 32, while the pair have drawn on 35 occasions.

Der Klassiker Biggest Win

On the way to only their second ever Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich thumped Borussia Dortmund 11-1 at the Grünwalder Stadion in November 1971. 

That contributed to a tally of 101 goals for champions Bayern that season, whilst Dortmund finished 17th in the standings and were relegated.

Der Klassiker Champions League Meetings

The clubs have met twice in the Champions League and both were big occasions. 

They first met in the competition in the 1997/98 campaign and it was the first time in the competition's history that two clubs from the same country had faced each other. 

The first leg of that tie finished 0-0, with Dortmund winning the second leg 1-0 thanks to a strike from Stephane Chapuisat in extra-time. But Bayern got their revenge the next time the sides met in Europe's elite club competition in May 2013, when the teams locked horns in the Champions League final. 

It was a huge occasion for German football and marked the first time two clubs from the country had met in the competition's final. Mario Mandzukic broke the deadlock for Bayern in the game at Wembley Stadium, before Dortmund equalised through Ilkay Gundogan's 68th-minute penalty. 

But it was Bayern that were left celebrating after Arjen Robben rolled the ball past Roman Weidenfeller in the 89th minute to seal the win. A week later, the Bavarians beat Stuttgart in the final of the DFB-Pokal and manager Jupp Heynckes went down in history as they became the first German team ever to win the treble.

Der Klassiker players for both clubs

It is fair to say that Der Klassiker has been at its best in the last decade or so and the key to the more recent success of both sides has been the goalscoring exploits of Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski.

Lewandowski arrived at Dortmund as a relatively unknown talent in 2010 and went on to win back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Die Schwarzgelben under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp.

Scoring 103 goals in 187 appearances for Dortmund, Lewandowski also helped the club win the DFB Pokal in the 2011/12 season and spearheaded their attack in the final of the 2012/13 Champions League final against Bayern.

In 2014, Lewandowski switched allegiances, joining Bayern Munich on a free transfer, and he went up another level, becoming the Bundesliga’s greatest foreign-born goalscorer and scoring 344 times in 375 matches in all competitions for the Bavarians, with whom he also won the Champions League.

Mario Gotze, who scored the winner for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, was another more recent example of a player that moved from Dortmund to Bayern, having also been an integral part of Klopp's successful side.

Defender Mats Hummels, meanwhile, began his career at Bayern before moving to Dortmund permanently in 2009 and then returning to Bayern in 2016. He hopped the fence once again in 2019, returning to Signal Iduna Park.

Torsten Frings, Michael Rummenigge and Stefan Reuter are amongst the other noteworthy players to have represented both clubs.

Der Klassiker Record Goalscorer

Unsurprisingly given that he spent most of his career at both clubs, Lewandowski is Der Klassiker's all-time top goalscorer with 32 goals to his name.

The rest of the list is dominated by former Bayern Munich players with Gerd Muller having scored 15 times in the fixture, while Thomas Muller is now just one behind his namesake on 14 after his brace in the most recent Der Klassiker.