Germany woke up excited on Saturday morning. Over Berlin, Cologne and Munich, the spring sun was peeking through the clouds, and, after a miserable year, it felt like there was some hope for German football.
Humiliation in the World Cup, a string of racism scandals, total failure in the Champions League and an FA president forced to step down over a luxury watch: all that can, at least for a brief moment, be forgotten when Bayern Munich host Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening.
Because this season, at long last, the Bundesliga has a proper title race. With seven games to go, Dortmund are two points ahead of Bayern and the battle to be crowned German champions looks set to go down to the wire.
Borussia Dortmund have turned this season's Bundesliga into a thrilling fight for the title
But Bayern Munich have no intention of relinquishing their grip on the Bundesliga trophy
Borussia Dortmund have a two point lead over Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga
Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund
Saturday 5.30pm UK time
Live on BT Sport 1
It is a long time since it has been this close. Seven years, in fact. In 2012, the two teams met in early May and Robert Lewandowski's late toe-poke all but ended Bayern's title hopes and kept Dortmund on course for the Double.
A lot has changed since then. Lewandowski and Mats Hummels have since joined Bayern, and Mario Gotze has been to hell, or at least to Munich, and back.
A win at the Allianz Arena could possibly decide the title race in Dortmund's favour again, and make them the first team to deny Bayern the title since 2012.
Bayern, meanwhile, know that they have to win if they are to reclaim their usual perch at the top of the Bundesliga.
Here is all you need to know about tonight's title race showdown.
Bayern under pressure'It's a shame the title race is so exciting this year,' joked Niko Kovac at Thursday's press conference. The Bayern boss would certainly have hoped for an easier ride in his first year at the club.
Club president Uli Hoeness has suggested in the past that Kovac's fate does not depend on the title race, saying that Bayern can live without the league for one year.
Yet after their Champions League exit to Liverpool and some nervy domestic performances of late, the pressure is back on, with patriarch Hoeness declaring Saturday's clash a 'must-win game'.
Bayern manager Niko Kovac is under intense pressure not to surrender the Bundesliga crown
Bayern scraped past second division Heidenheim with 10 men in the Cup in midweek
Bayern were held to a draw with Freiburg last weekend and slipped two points behind Dortmund, prompting frustration in the changing room and in the dugout.
In midweek, they survived another scare in the cup as they limped past second tier Heidenheim with a bizarre 5-4 win at home.
Dortmund's nervesDortmund, meanwhile, are a team who seem determined to spite themselves, proving their steeliness only in the moments where they look most fragile.
Having watched their nine-point lead over Bayern evaporate in the first few months of the year, Lucien Favre's young side have rallied in recent weeks, grinding out late victories to reclaim top spot.
They have
