Götze: a Klassiker hero for Dortmund and Bayern

Before Götze and the World Cup, there was the story of Götze and the Klassiker. In rare enough company in having played for both clubs, the 26-year-old has made his mark over 13 previous Bundesliga appearances in matches between Dortmund and Bayern.

Now bang back in form with four goals and six assists this term, he got his first taste of the fixture in Munich in February 2010. The attacking midfielder appeared as a late substitute for Dortmund in a 3-1 defeat as Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery set Louis Van Gaal’s Bayern on course to become German champions.

Just over a year later at the Allianz Arena, the tables were well and truly turned. Götze had missed the previous meeting of the teams in Dortmund, when a Nuri Sahin free-kick capped a 2-0 win for Jürgen Klopp’s fast-improving side.

This time, though, the wunderkind joined summer signings Mitchell Langerak, Lukasz Piszczek, and Robert Lewandowski in the starting line-up. Still only 18, the rising star of German football gave another glimpse of his thrilling potential as the league leaders continued their unforgettable season. First the Dortmund number 31 teed up Sahin to curl home a beauty from the edge of the box for 2-1. Then he got his 10th assist of the campaign when his inviting corner in the second half was headed home by Mats Hummels.

That 3-1 victory gave Dortmund the belief they needed to win the Bundesliga for the first time in nine years, with Götze weighing in with six goals and 15 assists. One of his strikes came late in the season against Hannover, when he slalomed through the opposition defence just as his team’s previously sizeable lead at the top was in danger of being whittled down to four points.

“We don’t call him Götzinho in the dressing room for nothing,” Hummels said afterwards.

Dortmund finished seven points clear of Bayer Leverkusen in the end, and Bayern, who came third, would strengthen significantly for the following campaign. Jupp Heynckes was installed as manager, while Germany internationals Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng arrived to bolster their rearguard.

A major test of Dortmund’s title defence came on Matchday 13, when they travelled back to Munich on a chilly November evening. The home side had a five-point advantage at the summit, and the pressure was on the visitors to close the gap or risk seeing Bayern pull away for good.

Götze – still operating on the right of midfield but now wearing the number 11 jersey – would get the only goal. Midway through the second half, he beat Boateng to a loose ball inside the area and prodded past Neuer.

After scoring six goals and making five more, the teenager missed the second half of the season through injury. Dortmund would still become Bundesliga champions for the fifth time, however, with an instinctive finish from Lewandowski on Matchday 30 giving them another 1-0 win over Bayern in a breathtaking title race.

Götze clearly enjoyed playing in Munich, and scored again on Matchday 15 of the 2012/13 campaign. His equaliser in the 1-1 draw didn’t count for too much, however, as the league and cup holders were already well behind a resurgent Bayern in the table. Instead of Dortmund making it a hat-trick of Bundesliga titles, Bayern won a treble of their own – beating Klopp’s team in the UEFA Champions League final in between clinching the two major domestic trophies.

On the eve of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, Dortmund had been rocked by the news that Götze would be joining Pep Guardiola in Bavaria the following season. The German, who missed the 2-1 defeat to Bayern at Wembley due to injury, would return to haunt his former club.

On Matchday 13 of 2013/14, Dortmund aimed to draw to within a point of unbeaten defending champions Bayern. Over 80,000 packed inside Signal Iduna Park, and the home fans would still have been hopeful when the score was 0-0 in the 56th minute.

That was when Götze was introduced from the bench, inevitably getting a frosty reception on another crisp November night. Ten minutes later, the Dortmund academy graduate controlled a Thomas Müller pass with his left foot before poking home swiftly with his right to break the deadlock. Bayern won 3-0, and Götze was on the road to claiming a hat-trick of league titles with his new team.

Born in Bavaria, brought up in Dortmund, and by then joined by Lewandowski at Bayern, he also netted in a 5-1 success in Munich in October 2015, and won four of his five Bundesliga matches against Die Schwarzgelben.

Along the way, of course, Götze became a national hero by scoring the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final. He then returned to Dortmund in the summer of 2016, something Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said he had always hoped to see.

“If I am now to return to my hometown club, then I want to try to win everyone over – especially those who do not welcome me back with open arms – with my performances,” Götze said after his move back to Dortmund had been confirmed.

“My objective is to get back to playing my best football. For all of us, the club and the BVB fans.”

Dortmund’s prodigal son set about winning over the support again by laying on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s decisive strike against Bayern later that year. Three defeats followed after that, but Götze – now the Dortmund number 10 – started in the 3-2 victory over his former employers in November of last year to set up what has been an epic tussle for the title.

He now has a positive record for Dortmund against Bayern again, having won four, drawn one and lost three of his league matches against them. Should he score against his old friends this weekend, then the omens are good for Lucien Favre’s visitors. Götze, after all, has never lost a Bundesliga game that he has got on the scoresheet in – his 51 goals have come as part of 37 wins and seven draws.

With illness and injuries finally behind him, the Germany international has shown a voracious appetite this season by covering an average of 7.7 miles per game. A throwback to those early Dortmund days in Munich – and a fifth league goal this term – might just be enough for that work to pay off by making Götze a six-time Bundesliga champion.

Mark Rodden