MUNICH -- Modern football hype prefers it when we place everything in a convenient box that doesn't always reflect reality. I suppose it's understandable.

Covering the German game as a commentator, however, you quickly resist the temptation to make Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund what advertising moguls might have us do with a fixture that has come to be known as der Klassiker .

It doesn't lend itself to a simplistic "clash of the titans" narrative. Nuance and context are needed when understanding what this confrontation is.

Yes, it is the most-high profile Bundesliga fixture that the wider world often associates with the league and it features two heavyweight clubs, indeed the two most avidly followed in the Bundesrepublik . The action -- as was the case last season in a

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