Dortmund takes on Bayern but will der Klassiker live up to its name?

BERLIN (AP) — Der Klassiker is in danger of not living up to its name.

The growing gulf between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund means German soccer’s showpiece presents more of an opportunity for Bayern to display its superiority than for Dortmund to mount a genuine challenge to the Bavarian powerhouse.

Dortmund hosts Bayern on Saturday for a meeting of the Bundesliga’s top two, but it’s unlikely to have any impact on the title race. Bayern is already eight points clear and closing in on yet another championship. Bayern has won 12 of the last 13 since Dortmund won back-to-back titles in 2012.

This, despite the fact Dortmund is enjoying its best Bundesliga season since that 2012 title.

Bayern and Dortmund have lost only once in the league. In Dortmund’s case it was to Bayern, 2-1 in the reverse fixture in Munich in October. Bayern was surprised at home by Augsburg last month, when an uncharacteristic wobble (Bayern drew the next game at Hamburger SV ) allowed Dortmund to close the gap to six points. Then Dortmund drew at Leipzig 2-2 last weekend to give Bayern its eight-point cushion with 11 rounds to go.

Bayern has dropped points only four times, with 19 wins from 23 games.

Since Bayern defeated Dortmund 2-1 in the 2013 Champions League final in London, Bayern has won 24 of the teams’ 37 meetings across all competitions. Three of Dortmund’s nine wins from those encounters were in the unimportant German Supercup, and there were four draws.

Der Klassiker will dominate. While Bayern has had a whole week to prepare, Dortmund was in Bergamo, Italy, on Wednesday for a painful Champions League exit to Atalanta.

At the other end of the table, Werder Bremen hosts Heidenheim for a scrap between the bottom two, also on Saturday. Bremen lost to relegation rival St. Pauli last week for its third consecutive defeat under new coach Daniel Thioune and 13th straight without a win. Heidenheim nearly defeated Stuttgart before settling for 3-3. There are five points between the teams.

Eintracht Frankfurt hosts Freiburg on Sunday when the home team will hope to continue its resurgence under new coach Albert Riera.

Bayern star Harry Kane recently celebrated 500 goals for club and country. He has 28 in 23 Bundesliga appearances this season and is scoring at such a rate that Robert Lewandowski’s season record of 41 from 2020-21 is under threat.

Dortmund forward Fabio Silva scored his first league goal for the club in his 17th appearance to rescue the 2-2 draw at Leipzig last week. Saturday would be a good time to score his second.

Bayern wing back Alphonso Davies is out of der Klassiker with a hamstring injury from the win over Frankfurt.

Leipzig, which visits Hamburger SV on Sunday, said it was without midfielder Xaver Schlager for “a few weeks” due to an adductor injury.

Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller’s left knee injury from the draw with Heidenheim last weekend is not as bad as initially feared. It’s unclear if he’ll be fit in time for Sunday’s match against Wolfsburg.

Dortmund has warned its fans of traffic chaos around Saturday’s game because of a local transport strike. It continues Dortmund fans’ difficulties getting to a game after police measures forced many to abandon their plans to attend Wednesday’s Champions League match in Italy.

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Atalanta's Davide Zappacosta celebrates after scoring their second goal during the Champions League second leg playoff match between Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund in Bergamo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Dortmund's Ramy Bensebaini reacts during the Champions League second leg playoff match between Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund in Bergamo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Bayern Munich's Aleksandar Pavlovic, center, celebrates scoring with Josip Stanisic, left, and Dayot Upamecano during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt in Munich, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2026. (Harry Langer/dpa via AP)

Bayern Munich's Aleksandar Pavlovic celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt in Munich, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2026. (Harry Langer/dpa via AP)

GENEVA (AP) — Iran and the United States began indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran's nuclear negotiations viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month. Iran meanwhile has maintained it wants to continue to enrich uranium even as its program sits in ruins, following Trump ordering an attack in June on three of the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites, part of a bruising 12-day war last year.

If an American attack happens, Iran has said all U.S. military bases in the Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of thousands of American service members. Iran has also threatened to attack Israel, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East.

“There would be no victory for anybody — it would be a devastating war,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today in an interview filmed Wednesday just before he flew to Geneva.

“Since the Americans' bases are scattered through different places in the region, then unfortunately perhaps the whole region would be engaged and be involved, so it is a very terrible scenario.”

Araghchi again is passing messages to Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and friend of Trump who serves as a special Mideast envoy for the president. The two men held multiple rounds of talks last year that collapsed after Israel launched its war against Iran in June. These latest talks are again being mediated by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that's long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West.

Araghchi met Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi after arriving in Geneva on Wednesday night. The men “reviewed the views and proposals that the Iranian side will present to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, based on the guiding principles agreed upon in the previous round of negotiations,” a report from the state-run Oman News Agency said. Al-Busaidi will pass on Iran's offer to American officials on Thursday, it added.

An Associated Press journalist saw al-Busaidi after he met with the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. The Omani diplomat flashed a thumbs up to a question about whether he was hopeful for the talks.

Al-Busaidi returned Thursday to the Omani diplomatic residence on the shores of Lake Geneva . A convoy believed to be carrying American diplomats later arrived to the compound, followed by another believed to be carrying Iranian diplomats. Oman later published images of Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, meeting with al-Busaidi at the residence, signaling the start of the talks.

In this round of negotiations after the June war, Trump has pushed to halt Iran's enrichment of uranium entirely, as well as address Tehran's ballistic missile program and its support of regional militant forces. Iran has maintained the talks must remain focused only on nuclear issues.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday that Iran is “always trying to rebuild elements” of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran is not enriching uranium right now, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”

Iran has said it hasn't enriched since June, but it has blocked IAEA inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press also has shown activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.

The West and the IAEA say Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. Before the June attack, it had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to restart a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” While insisting its program is peaceful, Iranian officials have threatened to pursue the bomb in recent years.

“The principle’s very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

Vance said Trump is “sending those negotiators to try to address that problem” and “wants to address that problem diplomatically.”

“But, of course, the president has other options as well,” Vance added.

If the talks fail, uncertainty hangs over the timing of any possible attack.

If the aim of potential military action is to pressure Iran to make concessions in nuclear negotiations, it’s not clear whether limited strikes would work. If the goal is to remove Iran’s leaders, that will likely commit the U.S. to a larger, longer military campaign. There has been no public sign of planning for what would come next, including the potential for chaos in Iran.

There is also uncertainty about what any military action could mean for the wider region. Tehran could retaliate against the American-allied nations of the Persian Gulf or Israel. Oil prices have risen in recent days in part due to those concerns, with benchmark Brent crude now about $70 a barrel. Iran in the last round of talks said it briefly halted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.

Satellite photos shot Tuesday and Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP appeared to show that American vessels typically docked in Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, were all out at sea. The 5th Fleet referred questions to the U.S. military’s Central Command, which declined to comment. Before Iran’s attack on Qatar in June, the 5th Fleet similarly scattered its ships at sea to protect against a potential attack.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

Oman's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, right, holds a meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, centre, and Jared Kushner, as part of the ongoing Iranian-American negotiations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday Feb. 26, 2026. (Foreign Ministry of Oman via AP)

Oman's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, right, holds a meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, centre, and Jared Kushner, as part of the ongoing Iranian-American negotiations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday Feb. 26, 2026. (Foreign Ministry of Oman via AP)

The U.S. delegation arrives at the Oman ambassador's residency, where the indirect nuclear talks between the United States and Iran are taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

Vehicles drive past the Saint Sarkis church and a painting of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman walks past a painting on the wall of a girls school at Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Commuters drive past Saint Sarkis church and a mural of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)