Roman Weidenfeller had an unwelcome flashback recently. The former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper had donned the gloves once more to play alongside former greats in the Beckenbauer Cup in Munich. He was faced with Arjen Robben again.
The Dutchman scored the winning goal past Weidenfeller in the Champions League final at Wembley in 2013. A dozen years on, both long since retired, in a friendly game celebrating the life of Franz Beckenbauer, Robben managed to replicate the moment.
“I could not believe it,” laughs Weidenfeller. “It was the same goal. He never knew how he did it in London and now it is the same. But he is a great player and he is still totally fit and in shape. With him and Franck Ribery, it was just like the old days of Der Klassiker.”
Speaking to Weidenfeller ahead of the latest instalment – Bayern host Dortmund in the Bundesliga this Saturday, live on Sky Sports – there are, fortunately, better memories of the fixture to reminisce about too. In 2012, he was player of the match in Munich. It changed his life.
Having seen him make a series of spectacular saves, Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp described it afterwards as “his game” but more significant was the reaction of Jupp Heynckes, the Bayern chief. Weidenfeller, 32 at the time, was somehow still uncapped.
“Jupp Heynckes was talking to the journalists after this game and he said, ‘When this guy is not invited to the national team, I cannot imagine what he has to save to get a call up.’ It was after this that Jogi Low called me and said, ‘Hey, would you like to join us?'”
He made his debut for Germany against England back at Wembley of all places the following year, and in the summer of 2014 became a World Cup winner. He retired from football four years later after 16 seasons at Dortmund but remains an ambassador.
So when Weidenfeller is critical of the team it makes the news. That is what happened after the goalless draw with Sporting in February that secured qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League. Dortmund had already won the first leg by three goals.
BVB captain Emre Can commented afterwards that Dortmund had done what was needed to progress. That might seem like a tame remark after a 3-0 aggregate victory over the Portuguese champions but it stoked something in the passionate Weidenfeller.
“I cannot believe that our leader, our captain of Borussia Dortmund, would say something like this. I know how players sometimes can feel when talking after the game. Journalists ask many things and in the end you end up saying something small.
“But at the end of the day, this is not Borussia Dortmund. These are like the words that you expect to hear from a smaller club. Borussia Dortmund have to play to win. When people go to our stadium, it is a special thing and there is a special atmosphere.
“Under the lights in the Champions League, they have to perform. We do not have to win every game. When it is possible to win, we win. When it is not possible to win, we draw. When we have a bad day, we lose. But we never go out on the pitch with this mentality.
“It is about mentality, it is character, it is how they work together on the pitch. It is very important to go on the pitch and say, ‘We have to do our job right.’ They play for Borussia Dortmund, 81,000 in the stadium. There is a responsibility to the club and the people.”
Few can claim to feel that connection between player and supporter more strongly than the protector of the Yellow Wall, the man who kept goal for Dortmund over 450 times. For him, there has always been something different about being a Dortmund player.
“You saw the pictures after our last away game against Freiburg? It was amazing,” says Weidenfeller. “We have always had this very special spirit. Behind my goal, that Yellow Wall, 25,000 people on this tribune, it is just amazing to have this kind of support.”
Perhaps he feels it particularly strongly as a goalkeeper. A two-time Bundesliga champion with the club, he would often be left watching the storm alongside them. And when Dortmund had to defend, he would feel as if thousands were trying to repel the ball behind him.
“Our fans, they are very close to the team,” he explains. He means it figuratively and literally. “We are in contact with the guys, we know the famous fans among the support. It is very special to have this kind of support. The black and yellow, it is everywhere.
“I feel really proud about this, the chance to be with the Yellow Wall when they sing their songs and support the guys. For me, it was a real pleasure. And also, when I had my last game in the Bundesliga away to Hoffenheim, they lifted me up and it was amazing.”
Those scenes during his final games were special but so too, in their own way, were the low points. When bottom of the table under Klopp in 2015, after a home defeat to the 10 players of Augsburg, Weidenfeller chose to scale the fencing to converse with the fans.
“When you play for Dortmund, you have to organise your body and your mind. They push you so that you are not running away and hiding when you make a mistake. Of course, when you have a bad time, sometimes it is not easy. They make a noise. It is normal.
“When they are upset and we put in a bad performance, when we do not bring it on the pitch, they are going to be calling things out but you have to manage that as a young player. When you are a bit older, you can manage it better. But I always felt the support.”
That support remains. But this version of Dortmund look like a pale imitation of the great sides of the past, even the one that reached the Champions League final last season. They face Bayern not in a title showdown but languishing down in eighth in the table.
The Champions League had offered some respite, a win over Lille in the last 16 setting up a quarter-final tie against Barcelona. But the first leg was lost 4-0 on Wednesday evening, further evidence of the ups and downs that have undermined them all year.
“We are not consistent enough,” says Weidenfeller. “We had some great games in the Champions League but bad games in the Bundesliga. We are 21 points behind Bayern Munich. It is too much, that gap. We are too far away from Bayern.
“The best thing is that a lot of other teams in the Bundesliga are not doing great themselves, so we were really far away from the Champions League places but now we are only five points off the top four. Champions League is still possible next season.”
Weidenfeller’s former team-mate Nuri Sahin was sacked in January but has been replaced by former Bayern coach Niko Kovac. He knows him well too having played alongside his brother at Dortmund. There is hope that he will be able to correct course.
“Niko has a lot of experience in the Bundesliga as a player and a head coach. But he joins trying to help us take the last step to the Champions League so it is not easy for him. The team is very complicated just now but he is managing it really well.
“He is playing every three days so it is tough for him to change everything about the team in this moment. But he made steps forward. He was a hard worker on the pitch and is the same on the touchline and he is working on the spirit of the team.”
That Dortmund spirit still embodied by Roman Weidenfeller.
Watch Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund live on Sky Sports Football this Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm.