Bayern München v Borussia Dortmund Match Preview, 2/4/23

Match Facts

1. This is the 133rd time since the Bundesliga was founded, that Borussia Dortmund face FC Bayern – no other fixture has been played as often in German professional football. Bayern conceded 32 defeats against BVB – more than against any other team in all comps - Dortmund on the other hand lost 65 times against Bayern, also more than they have against any other side.
2. After eight consecutive defeats in competitive matches, Borussia Dortmund managed to win a point in the 2-2 draw against FC Bayern München in the reverse fixture. However, BVB lost their last eight BL matches away from home at Bayern - in their BL history, Dortmund only had one longer losing streak away from home: At Werder Bremen from 1979 to 1989 (10 matches).
3. In this Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund (1st) and FC Bayern (2nd) for the the third time this Bundesliga season a league leader will play the team in second place (previously Bayern against Gladbach and Union Berlin on Matchday 4 and 5). The respective league leader has lost only one of the last 13 Bundesliga matches against a second placed side (7W 5D) - in December 2020 Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 against FC Bayern.
4. FC Bayern München have won only five of their 10 Bundesliga games in 2023 (3D 2L) and, with 52 points after 25 games, they are playing their weakest BL season in 11 years - in 2011/12 they had 51 points at this stage of the season, which was the last time the Munich side were not German champions (Borussia Dortmund were).
5. For the first time since the second matchday of 2019/20, Borussia Dortmund is at the top of the Bundesliga table. The last time this was the case in the second half of the season was on matchday 27 of 2018/19, when the team suffered a 0-5 defeat away at FC Bayern.
6. Borussia Dortmund is the best team in the second half of this Bundesliga season with 22 points after eight match days. At the same time, this is a club record for BVB after eight matchdays of the second half of the season - only in their last championship-winning season 2011/12 had they collected so many points at this stage.
7. Sebastien Haller scored his first competitive brace for Borussia Dortmund and his first Bundesliga brace since March 2019 in the 6-1 win over Cologne, back then he scored for Eintracht Frankfurt against Fortuna Düsseldorf. He scored for Frankfurt in each of his two BL away matches at FC Bayern - only two players have scored in their first three BL away matches at Bayern: Ulf Kirsten and Jonathan Akpoborie.
8. Dortmund's Marco Reus scored his 160th and 161st goals in all comps for Borussia Dortmund in a 6-1 win over Cologne, a new club record in professional football. No other current Bundesliga player has scored as many BL goals against FC Bayern Munich as Marco Reus (8).
9. Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro was directly involved in nine goals in the second half of this Bundesliga season (2 goals, 7 assists), a league best. In the calendar year 2023, no other player in the big five European leagues has as many assists as the Dortmund player (7).
10. Thomas Tuchel is about to see his first competitive match as new manager of FC Bayern München. From 2015 to 2017, he sat on the bench at Borussia Dortmund, where he averaged 2.09 points in the Bundesliga - a record for a BVB manager in BL history.