Joshua Kimmich warns Borussia Dortmund not to get too comfortable atop the Bundesliga table

Borussia Dortmund has started the season incredibly well, while Bayern Munich has experienced a bit of a hiccup, having gone four matches without a win across all competitions. For Dortmund, they experienced a patch of excellent form to start off the season last year, but we all know what happened after that.

The first “Der Klassiker” of the season is less than a month away (November 10th) and Dortmund is currently atop the Bundesliga table with a total of 20 points, four ahead of Bayern’s 16 in fourth place. Bayern did get back to its winning ways against Vfl Wolfsburg with a 3-1 win at the Volkswagen Arena, and defender Joshua Kimmich is confident his side can reclaim the top spot in the league before the winter break. Speaking to az, Kimmich admitted that he hasn’t watched much of Dortmund this season, but feels that luck has really been on their side in addition to exemplary attacking thus far:

I have to say, I haven’t seen all of their games. I caught a little bit of the Leverkusen game and when they played Hoffenheim. I also saw their first game, against Leipzig. I have to say that at the moment they also have the necessary luck. Dortmund’s offense has a brutal amount of quality that’s set up very wide. They have a high pace and accordingly score many goals. At the moment, they’re winning every game with a high number of goals.

Looking forward, Kimmich affirmed, Bayern aims to be back at the top of the table by the winter break, but he knows that they have to take care of business on their end to have a chance of that materializing:

It’s important that we win our games. Then we’ll see how things look in two, three, or four weeks. By the winter break, we want to be on top again.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also weighed in on Dortmund’s impressive form thus far, but made certain to mention that Bayern is only eight match days into the season. Rummenigge also noted that there are still plenty of points up for grabs between now and the end of the season:

Borussia Dortmund is doing well. They’re playing very attractive soccer and are correctly placed where they are (in the table). But, we now have had just eight matchdays. There are still 26 matchdays times three. There are still 78 points in the pot; there’s a long time left. I know from my own experience that you come under pressure when you’re on top.

Whether or not Dortmund folds like they did last season is one thing, but Bayern needs to get results themselves and not worry about what’s going on around them. The win over Wolfsburg seems to have had a galvanizing effect on the squad, especially after the club’s front office press conference that attacked certain media outlets for their unwarranted criticism of some of the players on the team. Between now and the match against Dortmund in November, Bayern has two league matches against Mainz and SC Freiburg to get six points from before the head-to-head opportunity to close the gap on Dortmund.

It’s tight at the top: