Vincent Kompany believes "the Klassiker is a title in itself" as his Bayern Munich side take on Borussia Dortmund in a huge clash in the Bundesliga title race.
Following BVB's 2-2 draw with RB Leipzig last time out, Bayern managed to extend their lead at the Bundesliga summit to eight points ahead of their trip to Westfalenstadion.
Bayern are the Opta supercomputer's favourite to lift the title in 2025-26, with the defending champions given a 99.2% chance of winning the Bundesliga to Dortmund's 0.78%.
Kompany insisted that the result of this game will not impact their ambitions, but feels it will be a great event for the Bundesliga.
"It's a Klassiker. That has its significance, and with it being a top-of-the-table clash at the moment, we can make it as big as it is," said Kompany.
"I find that good. It's important for the Bundesliga that it's a big event – the teams shouldn't have fear, but we need teams who say: I want to beat Dortmund.
"And Dortmund should think similarly. That's what makes it so important, that's how it should be.
"I can't say how Dortmund feel. But for us, I've said from the beginning that the Klassiker is a title in itself.
"The truth is, these games are so important that they deserve their own little title. The result won't change our mentality, we want to keep marching on.
"We're on a good track and want to fight to keep it that way."
𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛: You do not want to miss this one!
— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) February 22, 2026
We face BVB on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/qKV0xpRxJ0
Bayern won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in October, with goals from Harry Kane and Michael Olise getting the job done at Allianz Arena.
Dortmund have not lost in the Bundesliga since that defeat, and head coach Niko Kovac believes they must be close to perfect if they are to beat Bayern this time around.
"Bayern are a top team that will demand everything from us," said Kovac.
"We have to play to our very best from the first to the last second, because that's the ultimate in Europe.
"We have to be brave in possession and keep hold of the ball for long periods.
"But it also depends on the opponent, who will certainly want to impose their game on us. It will be a very intense game over 90 minutes."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Borussia Dortmund – Fabio Silva
Silva recently scored his first Bundesliga goal in his 17th appearance in the competition.
This Bundesliga season, he has been directly involved in a goal every 79 minutes (one goal, five assists), a rate only bettered by Kane (every 56 minutes) and Olise (every 65 minutes) among all players with 450+ minutes played.
Bayern Munich – Harry Kane
Kane has scored 28 goals for Bayern after 23 Bundesliga matchdays – a joint-record in the competition (alongside Robert Lewandowski in 2020-21 and 2021-22).
He has scored multiple goals in each of his last three Bundesliga matches; only Lothar Emmerich for Dortmund (1967) and Tomislav Maric for Wolfsburg (2001) have ever managed to do so four times in a row.
MATCH PREDICTION – BAYERN MUNICH WIN
Dortmund and Bayern will meet for the 139th time since the Bundesliga was founded, making it the most played fixture in German professional football history.
Bayern have lost more professional football matches against Dortmund than against any other team (33), though they have been unbeaten in their last seven away games against BVB in all competitions (W5 D2).
Bayern have collected 60 points from their first 23 Bundesliga games this season – they only had more at this stage in 2013-14 (65 points) and 2015-16 (62 points).
However, Dortmund are enjoying their best Bundesliga campaign in seven years, with 52 points after 23 games. Only in 2018-19, when they had 54 points, did they also only suffer one defeat at this stage of a season.
Dortmund and Bayern have scored in every Bundesliga game this season – Barcelona are the only other club to do this in Europe's top five leagues.
This is a joint club record for Dortmund, who also scored in each of their first 23 Bundesliga matches in the 1995-1996 season, before a 0-1 loss to Bayern.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Borussia Dortmund – 22.6%
Draw – 22.2%
Bayern Munich – 55.2%