Bayern spurns chance to go 8 points clear in Bundesliga as Dortmund draws 'Klassiker' 2-2

BERLIN (AP) — Borussia Dortmund prevented Bayern Munich from going eight points clear in the Bundesliga on Saturday by fighting back for a 2-2 draw in “der Klassiker.”

Bayern was on course to start thinking of title celebrations as substitutes Serge Gnabry and Raphaël Guerreiro both scored within four minutes of each other to cancel out Maximilian Beier’s opener for Dortmund after the break.

But Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton equalized on a rebound in the 75th after Jonas Urbig saved Serhou Guirassy’s acrobatic effort.

Harry Kane missed a big chance for Bayern, though he wasn't the only one as Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel had a busy match.

“A game of missed opportunities,” said Thomas Müller after making a rare start for Bayern.

The 35-year-old Müller captained the side and was pushed onto the field by teammates before the match to receive fans’ applause after the club announced last week that his contract won’t be renewed at the end of the season.

The draw stopped Bayern from capitalizing on defending champion Bayer Leverkusen’s 0-0 draw with Union Berlin earlier, as the Bavarian powerhouse stayed six points clear at the top with five rounds remaining.

It’s just a little bump for Bayern, which next needs to come from a goal behind at Inter Milan in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday. Munich is hosting the final in May.

Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz returned after five weeks out but could not inspire his team to pick up anything more than a scoreless draw against Union.

Wirtz couldn’t return soon enough for Leverkusen, which was knocked out of the Champions League – by Bayern – and the German Cup – by third-division Arminia Bielefeld – while the 21-year-old player recovered from an ankle injury.

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso sent him on in the 57th minute and he made an immediate impact, setting up a chance for Exequiel Palacios.

Union forward David Preu was booked on his Bundesliga debut for a bad challenge on Wirtz’s ankle in the 83rd. Wirtz carried on and remained central to all of the home team’s attacking play.

Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow was alert to a Wirtz cross before Granit Xhaka fired Leverkusen’s last chance over from a free kick.

“We've dropped too many points at home. I don't know why,” said Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, whose side completed an unprecedented unbeaten league and cup double last season. “As of now, we’re a point closer (to Bayern) but of course we'd hoped it would be three.”

Union’s fifth straight game without defeat handed the initiative to Bayern.

“It's difficult now, but the way I know Leverkusen, they'll finish the season well. You never know in football,” Union captain Christopher Trimmel said of Leverkusen's title chances.

Also Saturday, Hoffenheim defeated Mainz 2-0 to leave Leipzig in fourth place, the last for Champions League qualification, Freiburg came from behind to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1, Augsburg won at Bochum 2-1 and St. Pauli won a relegation battle at bottom side Holstein Kiel 2-1.

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Dortmund's Emre Can challenges for the ball with Bayern's Harry Kane, bottom, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Dortmund's Waldemar Anton, right, scores his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Dortmund's Waldemar Anton, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bayern's goalkeeper Jonas Urbig in action during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bayern's Michael Olise reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bayern's Harry Kane reacts after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Union's goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow makes a save ahead of Leverkusen's Patrik Schick during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso reacts during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, left, in action during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz lies on the pitch in pain during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Referee Bastian Dankert shows a yellow card to Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, left, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz kicks the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, centre, reacts during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)