Leipzig are moving gently towards making inroads into the current hegemony as Borussia Dortmund fail to step up
There has, for some time, been a deal of irritation in parts of Germany’s football-following community over the international marketing of Bayern Munich’s clashes with Borussia Dortmund as Der Klassiker. The epithet can’t truly pretend to be equivalent to its Spanish – or even French – counterpart, being more a way of framing Bayern versus current next best than reference to some historical struggle.
That Dortmund have grown into their role in the would-be rivalry is a post-2013
Champions League construct, a natural fit with BVB’s own global appeal and their consistent pitching up just shy of throwing distance from Bayern’s windows. What repercussions would it have, though, if they were no longer Bayern’s greatest irritant?