Clashes with Borussia Dortmund have been pivotal in Arjen Robben's long Bayern Munich career, with memories good and bad. But the Dutchman admits injury is likely to deny him a last chance to face Bayern's title rivals.
Image: Reuters
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As the opponent he's both faced and lost against most in his career, those with an eye for a narrative arc would have hoped Arjen Robben might have played one last time against Borussia Dortmund, before leaving Bayern Munich and riding off in to the sunset.
But the 35-year-old Dutch winger, who will leave the club he joined in 2009 at the end of the season, believes the April 6 meeting will come too soon.
"I still don't know whether I will be fit, we will have to see, but I think it is probably unrealistic," Robben told Munich newspaper Abendzeitung on Wednesday.
"I am on the road to recovery, but I am not yet training with the team," he added. "I think it will take a bit more time. All I can do is keep working hard and fighting to get back on the pitch."
Road to redemption
The man who scored the 89th-minute winning goal against Dortmund in the 2013 Champions League final has also had low moments in his 19 meetings with the Black and Yellows. Perhaps the nadir came 13 months earlier, in April 2012, when his penalty miss drew taunts from Neven Subotic, whose Dortmund side would eventually go on to win the title.
Arjen Robben lifts the trophy after scoring a late winner in the 2013 Champions League finalImage: picture alliance/augenklick
The redemption that came with that late goal at Wembley in 2013 has been something of a theme throughout Robben's career, with a succession of serious injuries failing to slow down a player whose pace has always been high on his list of assets. And he believes he'll get at least one more chance to add a footnote to a highly-decorated career.
"These are my last two months at a club where I have spent 10 years. I want to play again, to pull on the shirt one more time," he said. "That is the most important thing for me. I don't care which game it is."
Whether he'll also be able to add an eighth Bundesliga title will be decided not just by Der Klassiker next weekend but by Bayern and Dortmund's other seven fixtures between now and the end of the season.
Dortmund injuries clearing ahead of Wolfsburg visit
The run in starts this weekend, with Bayern, in ominous form, traveling to Freiburg, and Dortmund hosting a Wolfsburg side on a strong run - other than a 6-0 pasting from Bayern at the start of the month.
Mario Götze has recovered from a rib injuryImage: picture-alliance/M. Meissner
The Bavarians, who top the table on goal difference and splashed the cash on Lucas Hernandez in midweek, have few other injury concerns while the fitness woes that have hampered Dortmund's fluency in recent weeks seem also to be clearing.
"The boys have come back fit from the international break," reported BVB coach Lucien Favre on Thursday. "Only Christian Pulisic, unfortunately, has returned with a pulled muscle in his leg.
"(Mario) Götze, (Paco) Alcacer, and (Axel) Witsel have all been training since last Thursday and we hope to have them fit for Saturday."
Though he didn't mention it, Favre will also be desperate to keep Marco Reus, who missed most of Germany's win over the Netherlands with a thigh complaint, fit for the run in and particularly the clash with Bayern at the Allianz Arena. It looks like, for a change, Robben won't be lining up in opposition. But if the Dutch winger has his way, the Bundesliga will see him again. Or get a glimpse at least.
The most expensive Bundesliga transfers
Timo Werner's big money move from RB Leipzig to Chelsea has made the striker the most expensive German player ever. Here's a look back at the priciest moves in Bundesliga transfer history.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
Ousmane Dembele
His transfer to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund remains the most expensive ever involving a Bundesliga club. Dortmund received €105 million (€118 million) plus further add-ons. Not bad for then 20-year-old, but Dembele hasn't quite made his mark in Spain yet.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Kirchner
Lucas Hernandez
Having secured one French World Cup winner in Benjamin Pavard, Bayern Munich snapped up another early on in 2019. Defender Lucas Hernandez joined the record Bundesliga champions for the start of the 2019/20 season for a hefty €80 million. The fee makes him both Bayern and the Bundesliga's most expensive signing.
Image: Getty Images/G. Bouys
Kevin De Bruyne
The 2015-16 Bundesliga season started with a transfer supernova as well. Wolfsburg's talented playmaker left for Manchester City for a reported €74 million. At the time, no German team had ever earned that much from a player sale. He's now regarded as one of the Premier League's best players.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Rose
Naby Keita
Keita signed with RB Leipzig from Salzburg for €15million, but he only wound up playing two seasons in Germany. Why? Because Liverpool snapped him up ahead of the 2017-18 season for a reported total of €70 million. That's a pretty good profit for the Red Bull machine.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
Timo Werner
The Germany striker was in heavy demand, with Bayern Munich and Liverpool thought to be his most likely destinations for some time. But Premier League club Chelsea swooped in late to make Werner the most expensive German player of all time, with a fee thought to be €53 million. He has been the main man for RB Leipzig since their promotion to the top flight and leaves a big hole.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
Leroy Sane
He's rumoured to be Bayern Munich's primary target in 2020 but the winger has already been involved in one of the Bundesliga's biggest moves when he moved from Schalke to Manchester City in 2016. The fee for the Germany player was reported to be just north of €50million.
Image: Reuters/L. Smith
Granit Xhaka
Switzerland international Granit Xhaka was a nice little earner for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer of 2017. Having moved to Gladbach from Basel for around €8.5 million in 2012, the Foals sold him on to Arsenal for a reported €45 million. He's had a mixed time in London.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Revierfoto
Julian Draxler
Having joined Wolfsburg from Schalke a year earlier, in the summer of 2016, Julian Draxler decided he didn't want to play there either. He went through the motions for the first half of the season. In January 2017 he got his wish - a move to PSG worth a reported €40 million. It looks to have been a losing proposition for Wolfsburg, as they are thought to have paid €43 million for him.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Are those euro signs in Borussia Dortmund chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke's eyes? Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who had joined the Ruhr club from Shakhtar Donetsk for €27.5 million in 2013, moved on to Manchester United for a reported €42 million euros in the summer of 2016. He's since switched to Arsenal and is currently on loan at Roma.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Mueller
Corentin Tolisso
Bayern Munich broke their own transfer record with the €41.5 million purchase of French midfielder Corentin Tolisso from Lyon in June 2017, making him, at the time, the most expensive player ever to be brought into the Bundesliga.
Image: picture-alliance/Ansa/A. Di Marco
Roberto Firmino
For a short time, Brazilian Roberto Firmino held the record for the biggest sale of a Bundesliga player. In the summer of 2015, Liverpool paid Hoffenheim €41 million for his services. With a Champions League in the bag and a Premier League title almost certain to follow, they've got their money's worth.
Image: picture alliance/GES-Sportfoto
Javi Martinez
Bayern Munich splashed €40 million to acquire Javi Martinez from Athletic Bilbao, but it turned out to be money well spent. Martinez helped the Bavarians win multiple Bundesliga titles, the first of which came as part of a European treble.
