Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund waiting to make vital move in race for Bundesliga title

Mario Goetze, left, has thrived at Bayern Munich. Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images

Wistfulness has become a pandemic at Borussia Dortmund, and it is a condition that seems to be hard to shake off.

To be a leading footballer, with prospects, at the vibrant Dortmund of the past five or six years has meant being susceptible to longing, envious glances south.

There are many staples of professional fulfilment at the Westfalen stadium, not least the rousing support there, but there have been too many silver medals for some of those who have distinguished themselves in yellow and black.

The latest in a line of turncoats in the modern rivalry between passionate Dortmund and predatory Bayern Munich faces a familiar eye-of-the-storm scrutiny on Saturday.

Mats Hummels will line up for the away team at the arena he used to call home for the first time in a Bundesliga fixture, another Dortmund idol of the past turned Bayern man.

He is in the same position as Mario Gotze was three years ago, after Gotze quit Dortmund for Bayern, and as Robert Lewandowski, who made the same journey in the summer of 2014.

Of those three, Hummels tends to articulate most lucidly the whys and wherefores of what some Dortmunders still regard as a hurtful betrayal.

The Germany international centre-half is a loquacious speaker and, at 27, confident in his status.

So ready is he to talk to cameras and reporters after matches with his new club that some Bayern teammates have already nicknamed Hummels “Bayern’s Minister of the Exterior”.

He owns up to the tendency and revealed last week that, at Dortmund, he used to be known as “class spokesman”.

What Hummels has had to say in the lead-up to the collision between the club where he won successive Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012, and the Bayern who have won every league title since, was worth listening to.

When Hummels moved to Bavaria he made it clear he was pursuing a more regular flow of honours, Dortmund’s regular second-best finishes becoming a frustration while the Bayern juggernaut gained its relentless domestic strength.

Hummels, who won the World Cup with his country, in a defence that featured his current club-mates Manuel Neuer – the goalkeeper – Jerome Boateng and Philipp Lahm, aims for a European club triumph to complete his array of honours.

“A Champions League win would mean more to me than regaining the World Cup,” he declared.

He had come close while with Dortmund, but they were beaten by Bayern in the 2013 final that preceded the regular procession of players from one club to the other.

But here is the twist. The road from Dortmund to Bayern is not necessarily paved with gold.

Ask Gotze, who reversed his journey last summer and aims, having rejoined Dortmund, to show Bayern what they did not always make maximum use of in Gotze’s three years there.

Ask Hummels, who sees the top of the Bundesliga table as unusually tight in this his first winter as a Bayern player.

Newly promoted RB Leipzig went into Friday’s late match against Bayer Leverkusen equal on points at the top of the table with the defending champions. Dortmund could move within three points if they inflict on Bayern a first defeat of the campaign.

Hummels has heard the criticism of some of Bayern’s recent football, the suggestions that since Carlo Ancelotti replaced Pep Guardiola as head coach, an urgency has been lost.

“We have 24 points from 10 games, so that’s hardly a bad start,” Hummels argued. “But what we can say is that we haven’t been dominant enough.

“Opponents are being braver against us, and they think they have a chance.”

Hummels added: “And you know what? As a fan, I like that.”

He feels part of a more competitive, less predictable Bundesliga than he has experienced for some time.

The most enduring competition, for all the upstart energy of Leipzig, will in this title-race come from Dortmund, believes Hummels.

His task on Saturday is to keep quiet the team who scored more league goals than anybody after the first 10 matches, to resist any wistful thoughts and assure himself that it was he, not Gotze, who made the more prescient move in the summer.

Player to Watch: M’Baye Niang (AC Milan)

M’Baye Niang had his first taste of a Milan derby at the tender age of 18, when he was still a prodigy and the strides forward in what looked like a brilliant career in the making had not been outnumbered by the setbacks. At the age of 21, the jury is out as to whether AC Milan’s acquisition of the young striker was so inspired, but recent performances have been encouraging, and he can look forward to taking on Internazionale today as a key figure in Milan’s zesty start to the season.

Derby drought Given that he has been on Milan's books for more than four years, Niang ought to have started more than the one city derby that he has on his record. Bu injuries, slumps of form and a couple of loans mean that until January, his sole experience of the great San Siro rivalry was nine minutes as a substitute back in 2013, in a 1-1 draw.

Coming of age That deficit was corrected last January, when Niang starred in Milan's 3-0 win over Inter. His excellent cross, from a right wing he had mastered all evening set up the second goal for Carlos Bacca; Niang himself scored the third, coolly finishing after his initial shot had been saved. Cautiously, milanisti hoped his display marked a belated coming-of-age.

Off-field issues They did so cautiously because Niang has had had a one-step-forward-two-steps-back development arc since he hit the professional scene extraordinarily young. At 16, while with Caen he became the youngest goalscorer in the top flight of French football. By the time he was in his 20s, he had symptoms of having too much, too young, notably an excess of speed behind the wheel. He has collected traffic offences, and his last, a car accident left him with an injured leg.

International interruption His international career has been hampered by off-duty controversies, too. Niang, who was prized by France, through the age-group levels, was among a group of players, including current Bleus star Antoine Griezmann, who were punished for failing to observe a pre-match curfew while on under-21 international duty four years ago. The long ban has now expired, but Niang apparently remains off the radar for les Bleus, although he has turned down approaches from Senegal, who he is qualified to represent through his parents, saying he wants to play for France.

Rejuvenated Rossoneri His country may take note of his current form. Niang was about to be put on the transfer list in the summer until new coach Vicenzo Montella said he wanted him to stay. Montella has faith in young players, clearly. Niang has answered that confidence with his best run of form in a Milan jersey, three goals and three assists so far this Serie A season.

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