The big weekend showdown featuring the top two strikers in Europe
Dubbed Der Klassiker, Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund matches have become the biggest fixtures on the annual Bundesliga calendar. Sunday’s clash sees first-place Bayern taking on second-place Dortmund and has the added spice of pitting the two most in-form strikers in Europe against one another.
With 10 goals in seven Bundesliga outings, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski is the top scorer in any of Europe’s big five leagues.
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It took the Poland international just nine minutes to net all five goals in Bayern’s 5-1 thumping of Wolfsburg two weeks ago. That was followed by a brace in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Mainz and a hat trick against Dinamo Zagreb in Bayern’s 5-0 Champions League triumph on Tuesday.
Having now hit 10 goals in just the last nine days, Lewandowski is in the form of his life.
“I always want more,” said Lewandowski, speaking to reporters at Oktoberfestin Munich on Wednesday. “You always have to want to score more goals, always play better and always achieve more.”
Lewandowski has also become the fastest player in Bundesliga history to reach the 10-goal mark in a season, breaking a 38-year-old record held by Gerd Muller.
It’s thanks to Lewandowski that even without Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, Bayern has continued to roll like a juggernaut over every team it meets in the Bundesliga or Champions League. In fact, it is in part because Robben and Ribery are out injured that Lewandowski has hit such prolific form.
Without the two marauding wingers known for cutting inside and shooting on goal, Pep Guardiola has fielded more orthodox wide men in Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman. This has resulted in more crosses being played in, leading to increased opportunities for a penalty box predator like Lewandowski.
Being this reliant on an out-and-out striker goes against the doctrine for Guardiola, who has typically preferred “false nines” like Lionel Messi or Thomas Muller. But it’s this slight reconfiguration from the former Barça boss that’s enabled Lewandowski to become the hottest striker in Europe.
But over at Lewandowski's former club, Dortmund, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is hot on his heels. The Gabonese, who was among the players rested for Dortmund’s Europa League trip to Greece to play PAOK on Thursday, has now scored nine goals in seven league matches. This makes him the second most prolific striker in any of Europe’s top leagues.
Like Lewandowski, Aubameyang’s uptick in form has partially been about filling in where there was a need. When Lewandowski was sold to Bayern, the impetus fell to Marco Reus to head up Dortmund’s attack but the German has struggled with injuries since suffering a torn ankle ligament that kept him out of the 2014 World Cup. With Lewandowski out of the picture and Reus not quite the player was, Dortmund needed a hero.
Into the void stepped Aubameyang, a 26-year-old who began his career with AC Milan and won a French Cup with St. Etienne before moving to the Bundesliga in 2013. Last season, he was Dortmund’s top scorer, netting 25 goals in all competitions.
But despite Aubameyang’s form in front of goal, Dortmund has seen its high-flying start to the season falter following back-to-back draws to Hoffenheim and Darmstadt. It’s increased the pressure on Thomas Tuchel’s men in the run-up to Sunday’s meeting with Bayern.
A win for Guardiola’s men would see them pull seven points clear at the top of the table. If Dortmund is to maintain any hope of wresting the title away from Bayern for the first time since 2012, it will need to get some kind of result at the Allianz Arena. Although in its current form, it’s difficult to imagine any team beating this Bayern side, especially at home.
Whatever happens, with Lewandowski and Aubameyang both on the pitch, there will almost surely be goals.
