Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich: the Klassiker dream team!
Ahead of Saturday's barnstorming Klassiker, bundesliga.com gave you the chance to vote for your Borussia Dortmund-Bayern Munich dream team. All 11 positions were up for grabs, and it was your votes alone that determined the final combined XI. Take a look below at the 11 winning players that make up bundesliga.com's Dortmund-Bayern dream team.
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Goalkeeper
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Manuel Neuer(66 per cent)
Roman Bürki (32 per cent)
Sven Ulreich (1 per cent)
Marwin Hitz (1 per cent)
After missing the majority of last season with a broken foot, the four-time World Goalkeeper of the Year has played every minute of this campaign for Bayern. However, his return of just two clean sheets in the Bundesliga this term will be a disappointment for a 'keeper who has kept the ball out of his net in over 54 per cent of his 200 league appearances for the Munich club. But as the saying goes: form is temporary, class is permanent.
Right-back
Joshua Kimmich(58 per cent)
Achraf Hakimi (28 per cent)
Lukasz Piszczek (13 per cent)
Rafinha (1 per cent)
Last season’s fourth-highest provider in the league, Kimmich has picked up where he left off in Bayern’s title defence with a further three assists already this term. It will come as no surprise that Kimmich has attempted the most crosses in the league (45) and he is so often one of Bayern’s greatest threats going forward.
Centre back I
Manuel Akanji(35 per cent)
Jerome Boateng (33 per cent)
Niklas Süle (28 per cent)
Ömer Toprak (4 per cent)
The 23-year-old Switzerland defender has been a revelation since joining from Basel in January this year. Another example of the modern defender, Akanji is strong, quick, good with both feet and always looking to transition possession from defence into midfield. No player has completed more passes in the Bundesliga so far this season than Akanji (96 per cent). Midfielders the league over will envy that stat.
Centre back II
Mats Hummels(66 per cent)
Abdou Diallo (19 per cent)
Dan-Axel Zagadou (9 per cent)
Javi Martinez (6 per cent)
One of the most accomplished defenders of his generation, Hummels is the leader of Bayern’s defensive pack. Authoritative in voice, the air and on the ground, at any other club Hummels’ name would be the first on the teamsheet. In a decked roster of centre-backs, however, Hummels is part of Nico Kovac’s rotation policy as a result of his embarrassment of riches at centre-half.
Left-back
David Alaba(72 per cent)
Raphael Guerreiro (21 per cent)
Marcel Schmelzer (7 per cent)
Alaba has played a key role during one of Bayern’s most successful periods, and the free-kick specialist’s sizeable trophy cabinet reflects as much. The 26-year-old has won the Bundesliga seven times, has four DFB Cup winners’ medals, lifted the Champions League in 2013, and has already been named Austria’s Footballer of the Year on six occasions. In November 2017, he got his first ever goal against Dortmund in a 3-1 away win.
Watch: Alaba's top three free-kicks!
Central midfield I
Axel Witsel(69 per cent)
Leon Goretzka (25 per cent)
Renato Sanches (4 per cent)
Mahmoud Dahoud (2 per cent)
Witsel arrived in Dortmund following 18 months in China and after finishing third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup with Belgium. Any suggestions that he might suffer a World Cup hangover, however, were quickly dispelled. The 29-year-old rescued his new team with a debut goal against Greuther Fürth in the DFB Cup first round, and then scored on his Bundesliga debut in a 4-1 opening-day victory over RB Leipzig. Witsel looks like he has been playing in Dortmund’s midfield all his life, and also scored in a dominant performance during the 4-0 hammering of Atletico.
Watch: We meet Witsel to talk Klassiker!
Central midfield II
Thiago(61 per cent)
Thomas Delaney (20 per cent)
Julian Weigl (10 per cent)
Corentin Tolisso (9 per cent)
The 2018/19 campaign is Thiago’s sixth with Bayern, and there is no doubt that the Spanish playmaker has been a vital cog in a side that has already won five league titles during his time in Munich. The former Barcelona player has featured in over 100 Bundesliga matches, but has lost just nine, and only persistent injury problems have prevented him from wielding even more of a positive influence. Only teammate Kimmich has seen more touches of the ball this season (1,002) than Thiago (893).
Right wing
Jadon Sancho(67 per cent)
Arjen Robben (21 per cent)
Serge Gnabry (9 per cent)
Jacob Bruun Larsen (3 per cent)
Bravely leaving home comforts in search of more game time in Germany, Sancho has taken to the Bundesliga like a duck to water. The 18-year-old netted one goal in 12 league appearances during his first season at Dortmund, and since then the former Manchester City youngster has gone from strength to strength. The Londoner chalked up four goals and six assists in his first 10 Bundesliga matches of the 2018/19 campaign, and even weighed in with a Champions League goal against Atletico. Little wonder then, that Dortmund tied him down to a new contract - and that England handed him a first senior cap.
Watch: What makes Jadon Sancho so special!
Attacking midfield
Marco Reus(68 per cent)
James Rodriguez (20 per cent)
Thomas Müller (10 per cent)
Mario Götze (2 per cent)
Dortmund’s leader on and off the pitch, Reus has been the driving force behind their charge for the title so far. The 29-year-old’s combined 11 goals and assists in the league this season is second only to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Sebastien Haller. Fit and seemingly injury-free once again, Borussia’s Rolls Reus is steadily shifting through the gears.
Left wing
Christian Pulisic(54 per cent)
Kingsley Coman (27 per cent)
Franck Ribery (18 per cent)
Marius Wolf (1 per cent)
Pulisic is still only 20 but is developing into a leader in the Dortmund squad. Now in his fourth season with the first team, he has already scored in every competition this term. A few days after coming off the bench to net the winner in their Champions League opener against Belgian champions Club Brugge in September, the USA international got a crucial equaliser at Hoffenheim on Matchday 4 of the Bundesliga. The Pennsylvania native also netted in the DFB Cup game against Union Berlin, and was brought down for the extra-time penalty from which enabled Reus to sink a last-gasp winning penalty.
Striker
Robert Lewandowski(66 per cent)
Paco Alcacer (33 per cent)
Sandro Wagner (1 per cent)
Maximillian Philipp (1 per cent)
A man who needs no introduction to either side in Der Klassiker, the prolific Polish striker has run out 131 and 135 times for Dortmund and Bayern respectively. Lewandowski is also the top scorer in Klassiker history with 17 goals from 27 encounters in all competitions. His tally of five goals in nine league outings this season may be down on his usual rate of scoring, but Lewandowski’s total of 185 goals in the German top flight – sixth on the all-time list – makes it very hard to leave the striker out of any team.
Watch: How Lewandowski and Alcacer compare!