Bayern-Hamburg bring up century
South meets north in the Bundesliga this weekend with league leaders Bayern Munich preparing to face Hamburg for the 100th time.
Both sides come into the game off the back of a win with Bayern picking up their first three points of the new year at Stuttgart last weekend while Hamburg have won two in a row for the first time this season.
Those wins have lifted the northern Germany club away from immediate relegation danger and in a position to enjoy Saturday's trip.
Bayern will be there to ensure their latest trip to the Allianz Arena will be like their recent ones, which included a club record 9-2 humiliation two years ago.
"We want to take the next step," said Bayern full-back David Alaba, whose side are eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, on his club's website.
"We've prepared well this week and hopefully we will be able to entertain our fans again."
That is not the only interesting north-south clash this weekend with two of the league's form teams also meeting this Saturday when Werder Bremen, who have won four in a row, hosting Augsburg, who have climbed into a share of third off the back of three wins and a draw.
"It's going to be a cool duel," said Bremen's director of sport Thomas Eichin.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Borussia Monchengladbach host Cologne in a local derby which coincides with Carnival this year while Andre Schurrle makes his return to former club Bayer Leverkusen in the dress of Wolfsburg.
Back in the south, Hoffenheim and Stuttgart meet in a local derby with Schalke paying Eintracht Frankfurt a visit on Saturday evening.
The focus returns to the bottom of the table on Sunday when Freiburg head to the capital to face Pal Dardai's Hertha Berlin and both Hannover and Paderborn look to pick up their first win of the new year.