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'Bayern v Dortmund is a level above El Clasico' - Rummenigge says Barcelona and Real Madrid's rivalry has dropped in quality
The Bavarian giants' CEO watched the two fixtures back-to-back recently and thought the Bundesliga game was a better watch
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says his side’s Klassiker fixtures against Borussia Dortmund are of a higher quality than the Clasico games between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Bayern have won four of their last five games against Dortmund, with the teams sharing 17 goals between them in those fixtures.
The last five Clasico games, by comparison, have produced only 10 goals – but, with two wins and a draw apiece, the Spanish giants’ rivalry has been more evenly matched.
"It’s become a Klassiker,” Rummenigge told Bundesliga.com of the fixture. “We all looked a bit jealously at Spain when Real and Barca were playing each other in the Spanish Clasico, but I think now Dortmund-Bayern is a Klassiker in itself.
“I think we saw that recently when we played, a great game by the way, 3-2, it could have been 5-4 looking at all the chances.
“It was just a great game, and the day after I think it was Real vs Barca, and it wasn’t comparable in terms of the quality. So you can say the Bundesliga version is just a level above at the moment."
Both Bayern and Dortmund have been widely praised for their work in the transfer window over recent years, though both take different approaches to squad-building.
Bayern’s dominance in 2019-20 – once Hansi Flick took over from Niko Kovac – seemed difficult to beat but, with the marquee signing of Leroy Sane from Manchester City, they looked to strengthen even further.
"In these times, when finances are tighter too, we had a good transfer window, I think,” Rummenigge said.
“Without doubt, we lost an important player in Thiago, but it was his wish and, among friends, you have to be able to give them the chance to say goodbye, and you should do that. I think we handled that well from our side.
“We signed a very important player in Leroy Sane, but then the coach also wanted to make up for the loss of loan players [Philippe] Coutinho and [Ivan] Perisic, and at the end of the day we decided that in [Douglas] Costa and Leroy, we’d signed two wide players that bring that level of quality that we need.
“Our style of play is obviously very focused on the wide players, the left and right wingers, and that’s an important element for us: they have to be quick, they have to be able to dribble, they have to create goals or goal-scoring chances, or score themselves.
“We’ve done a bit there, and I think overall we’ve got a good squad. The players we’ve brought in, I think the squad is absolutely ready to challenge and that was our aim."
