How Bayern Munich Must Prepare for Coming Borussia Dortmund Test

With the return of domestic football in Germany next week, so, too, comes the world-famous Der Klassiker between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga calendar. 

One club sits atop of the German top division with a number of points to spare, while the other dwindles in mid-table obscurity after a horrid few months of discontent. However, next Saturday, form and any sense of a narrative go flying out the window when these two teams take arms and battle for bragging rights in Germany. 

Yet much more is at stake for Pep Guardiola than his Dortmund counterpart, Jurgen Klopp, with a recent defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach now putting considerable pressure on the manager and his squad to bounce back in an emphatic fashion. 

Here's how Bayern must plan for exactly that.

Stop Aubameyang from Countering

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Dortmund's top goalscorer this season is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and there's good reason for it, too.

Despite the club's wavy form of late, the Gabon striker has continued to offer a genuine line to goal through his incredible pace and acceleration. 

One of Guardiola's key faults this season has been a defensive line that has at times sat far too high up the park and found itself exposed to pace rather easily. We saw it against Gladbach and CSKA Moskow, and we may well see it against Dortmund next week. 

Find a Replacement for Robben

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

No club has conceded more goals to Arjen Robben than Dortmund. Or, to make that sound a little simpler, the Dutch international rarely has as much fun in the Bundesliga as he does against Klopp's side. 

According to Transfermarkt, Robben has scored nine goals and five assists in 16 games against Dortmund over the course of his career. Add to that his incredible form this season and it all comes to a very, very strong conclusion: Robben is the ultimate player to play against Dortmund. 

As such, his absence will be a huge loss to Bayern and finding a replacement will undoubtely be Guardiola's main priority going into this match. 

Limit Sahin's Influence in Midfield

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Although Dortmund have a whole host of attacking midfielders, their only true playmaker is Turkey international Nuri Sahin. 

Marco Reus may get the goals and Ilkay Gundogan may be getting courted by half of Europe at the minute, but it is Sahin who truly runs Klopp's midfield and ensures the team are playing proper attacking football. 

If Bayern really want to cripple Dortmund's chances of hitting them on the break, they must ensure Sahin isn't given a moment's peace. Limit Sahin and you limit his entire side. 

Target Dortmund's Full-Backs

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Guardiola will be hopeful of dominating Dortmund in every aspect of the pitch next Saturday, yet one or two positions that he'll hope to exploit will be both of Klopp's full-backs. 

Germany's second biggest club has considerable talent up front, in the middle of the park and at the centre of their defence, but the likes of Marcel Schmelzer, Lukasz Piszczek and Erik Durm simply aren't up to the task of dominating Robben, Mario Gotze or Franck Ribery right now. 

If Bayern have to pick a route to goal, they'd be advised to go down either wing. 

Prioritise Thomas Muller in Attack

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

With a club the size of Bayern comes the tough decision of picking between one world-class player and the next. 

Yet if Guardiola truly wants to hit Dortmund as hard as he can, then he can't look past Thomas Muller as one of his key forwards next Saturday. 

This season, Muller has 18 goals and 14 assists in all competitions—according to Transfermarkt—and has considerably outperformed the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Gotze and even Ribery. After Robben, there stands Muller, Bayern's best German attacking player at the moment.