Borussia Dortmund vs. FC Bayern Munich Supercup preview: Team news and predicted lineups

Germany’s biggest clubs Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich will kickstart their season on Saturday with the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup showdown at Signal Iduna Park (Westfalenstadion).

Once a regular fixture at this time of the year, this will be the first head-to-head meeting in the competition since 2021. Back in the days of COVID restrictions limiting attendances, the all-time top-scorer Robert Lewandowski scored a brace at his former homeground to seal a 3-1 victory for Julian Nagelsmann’s side.

Bayern won the trophy for the 11th time last year with a narrow win away at Stuttgart on the occasion of the first final under the name of “Franz Beckenbauer Supercup”. As for the hosts, four of their six trophies were achieved after wins over FC Bayern.

However, the Black and Yellows are unable to taste victory in this fixture since the arrival of Vincent Kompany. Both Bundesliga fixtures ended in stalemates in his first season before Bayern did the double over their biggest rivals for the first time since 2021/22.

The Rekordmeister ended their pre-season in excellent form, although Jamal Musiala’s health scare dominated headlines. Meanwhile, Niko Kovac’s men beat Premier League holders Arsenal before a comeback draw at home against AS Roma.

Memorable Supercup Moments

Although only three of them were played at Allianz Arena, FC Bayern have only missed one Supercup in the last 15 years. Unlike many of the other top European footballing countries, the competition was only founded in 1987 under the name “DFB-Supercup”.

Jürgen Wegmann scored a brace in the first fixture as FC Bayern came from behind to beat HSV. Wegmann was on target once again a couple of years later, but it was for Dortmund against his former club Bayern in a 4-3 triumph.

Bayern were involved in the highest-scoring Supercup to date with their 5-3 victory over RB Leipzig a year before Dani Olmo’s hat-trick stunned them at Allianz Arena. They also recorded the biggest win of the competition with a 5-0 win in Frankfurt back in 2018.

After the 2010 final played in Augsburg, the fixture has always been played at the home of one of the finalists, with the DFB-Pokal winners (or Bundesliga’s runner-up in this case) usually getting the nod. Signal Iduna Park will host the competition for the record seventh time on Saturday.

Daniel Schlager will be the referee as the 36-year-old finally gets to officiate his first “Der Klassiker” duel.

Team News

Giannis Konstantelias and Joey Veerman aren’t expected to be named in the starting lineup since they have only joined the club this week. However, they could be among those Dortmund newcomers to make their competitive debuts, alongside Konstantinos Karetsas and Joane Gadou.

Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can and Carney Chukwuemeka are definitely out of the game for Dortmund. Maximilian Beier could start once again as an attacking wingback after recovering from a minor injury that ruled him out of the final friendly.

Musiala could be included in Bayern’s squad, with the neurological issue behind his recent collapses not considered a further health risk. Serge Gnabry and Lennart Karl, meanwhile, are still working their way back to full fitness. João Palhinha and Bryan Zaragoza aren’t expected to be involved as both of them could even leave the club before Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano showed that they’re up for starting berths with their eventful performances in Tuesday’s test against Heidenheim, despite only joining team training a day earlier. Ismael Saibari and Nathanel Brown are ready to make their competitive debuts for the visitors.

Click here to see our predicted Borussia Dortmund vs. FC Bayern Munich lineups.