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When Saturday's action became evening, Bayern Munich displayed their superior quality as the unstoppable force, almost invincible and stimulated into their top gear by serious challengers, as shown in the subsequent game at improving Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bundesliga Showdown

Even if Dortmund's meeting with Red Bull Leipzig had the stature of a pivotal game in the early part of the Bundesliga season, with runner-up versus third place, anticipations were relatively conservative in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Be it the head coach quoting his one-time Bayern manager the experienced coach ("if you can't win, you shouldn't lose," he reflected at full-time) or his rival manager the visiting manager talking of his "progressing" side, it felt as if a 1-1 draw was fair, leaving each side moderately content, partially frustrated.

Historical Competition

And this is a game that counts, and has always mattered since Leipzig's 2016 promotion. These opposing sides are completely different in perspective and what they believe they stand for.

If the Bundesliga is by now used to Leipzig – rather than having fully accepted the club in principle – there is a unique intensity of opposition that awaits the visitors when they arrive at Signal Iduna Park.

Advertising Campaigns

On Friday morning large displays in urban Dortmund pictured two portions of fries, one plain and one with red and white sauces (for the club colors of RB), accompanied by the message "Yellow alone isn't satisfying," with the pun of gelb rather than financial resources poking fun at the image of Leipzig as a corporate creation.

The advertisements were attributed "competitive salutations, their nickname." Following many seasons RB understand they'll never become considered as legitimate by large sections of German football fans, so have taken the decision to deliberately adopt the villain arc; a similar advertising campaign was employed in the Bavarian capital ahead of their opening day visit there, humorously referencing "eventually an uncomplicated club colors" being in town after some Bayern fans' complaints about the champions' latest kit.

Matchday Key Moments

That Dortmund and Leipzig are targeting the comparable standards further increases the tension, even if it is not the motivation behind it. Munich's impressive form has additionally highlighted this perception, and observing Luis Díaz outshine even the English striker this weekend, with his comeback displays making light of the persistent missing of the young talent, this weekend has been an illustration of the reality of where everyone is.

Leipzig started brightly and surprised Dortmund with a rehearsed dead ball routine, scored by the Austrian midfielder but designed by set-piece coach their tactical coach, fired from his role with Dortmund's youth team in recent months.

Appearing somewhat tired from their midweek Champions League exertions the home side restored parity through an visually impressive goal of their own, with the Brazilian defender putting the finishing touch and though "it could have gone either way" in Baumgartner's words, the draw seemed fair.

Following the Fixture Analysis

Was there a statement waiting to be made here, there was nobody with a loud enough voice to quite make it. Their defender discussed his squad's improvement under the manager, stating that his side had dug in and "displayed maturity, which we lacked somewhat last year," but it all seemed like modest progress in the correct path rather than issuing any challenge.

"We rank among the top sides in the league," the player stated and there is hard to argue with that currently, but there is also the sense that it might prove insufficient this year in terms of creating a genuine battle at the top.

Tactical Questions

This match perhaps underlined just why BVB are so improved under the guidance of the head coach, but also why there may be absolute limits to what they can achieve with him at the helm. They survived their tiredness and the visitors' dominant periods and, in the latter stages of the game, indicated that they could be prepared to advance and secure victory, particularly with the well-timed changes of the experienced midfielder and the young talent.

Yet, was the conviction to make an increase a tempo into a win, or just a hope that it would? Kovac's Dortmund can be difficult opponents, but there is a question over whether they can really be winners. As goalkeeper Gregor Kobel indicated, the away game against the champions after the national team pause will reveal much information.

League Overview

Whether they or the visitors are title material is a different question. After several years of on and off-field turbulence, maybe BVB could do with a year of simple competence, of overseeing progress of steady growth; the final objective also relevant for Leipzig.

Concerning these organizations that view themselves as total opposites, they employed this fixture providing an excellent demonstration of sharing comparable situations.

League Table