The Bundesliga's weekly Saturday early evening showcase is usually the biggest and best of the weekend, a game that captivates and satisfies. However, the latest episode of Borussia Dortmund versus RB Leipzig took everyone by surprise. The wind seemed to be blowing in one direction, with BVB suffering three consecutive defeats, including a 5-2 loss at Real Madrid and a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg. The extra-time 1-0 loss at Wolfsburg in midweek ended their DfB Pokal hopes. There was little to suggest that Dortmund could halt Leipzig's 19-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga. Yet, Nuri Sahin's side did just that, convincingly, with style and substance.

Both coaches offered their own explanations. Sahin revealed he revisited his old notes from his playing days with coaching aspirations and tried an old Thomas Tuchel tactic that had helped his team defeat Leipzig in 2017. Tuchel had used a single defensive midfielder, a ball-playing midfielder in a deeper role, to exploit the spaces left in Leipzig's 4-2-2-2 formation. Sahin had planned to use himself but was injured, so Julian Weigl filled the role instead. Felix Nmecha stepped in on Saturday and performed well, according to Sahin.

On the other side, Marco Rose suggested his team, one of the Bundesliga's best, showed a lack of experience in dealing with the occasion. Rose lamented the lack of courage and conviction in such games, where they had the chance to pull away and secure a statement win. He saw it as a lesson for the next few weeks, urging his team to believe in themselves more in stadiums like this, against opponents like this.

These games are rarely dull. It is not a derby or a Klassiker, but when Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig meet, it is more than just a match. It is a clash of diametrically opposed philosophies, recently brought into sharper focus by Jürgen Klopp's surprise move to Red Bull. If the anti-RB banners on the Yellow Wall did not match the sea of them from Leipzig's first visit in 2017, some still appeared on Saturday, with a few criticizing Klopp himself.

BVB's self-appointed role as a protector of German football's traditional values gives this game its extra edge. Yet, some observers have started to question whether those traditions are limiting. Klopp's choice hints at a growing feeling among people in the game. In terms of the current picture, there appears to be a growing gap in focus and strategy. This match felt potentially season-defining. A win at Signal Iduna Park would have moved Leipzig 10 points clear of BVB. Now the gap is just four, which seems modest compared to the real gulf between the two teams' directions in the opening stanza of this season.

This performance, one of passion, invention, and composure, was an exhilarating surprise for Dortmund fans. The hosts started well but when Benjamin Sesko gave the visitors the lead with their first effort on target, and Jamie Gittens missed an almost immediate chance to equalize, there was no panic. Maximilian Beier leveled with his overdue first goal for the club before later setting up Serhou Guirassy for the winner.

It should not have been possible. Injuries left Sahin over a barrel. Leipzig's Willi Orban regretted their inability to raise the tempo, knowing Dortmund might have problems bringing quality off the bench. When naming his squad for the match, Sahin had called up eight players from the under-23s to supplement his first team. One of them, Ayman Azhil, made his debut as a substitute in the second half when Marcel Sabitzer was unable to continue.

Beier's form had hardly demanded inclusion, but the current personnel situation had demanded he persevere, and that Sahin persevere with him. Now, this could be a landmark game for the young forward, signed for €30m from Hoffenheim this summer. Whether it will be for BVB, only time will tell. There are likely to be further setbacks. But the relief that under such pressure and an avalanche of absences, there is still a way to be found is relief enough for now; and perhaps as importantly, an endorsement of their continued identity.

The big winners of the Bundesliga weekend were Bayern, with Harry Kane's virtuoso center-forward display steering them to a comfortable 3-0 win over Union Berlin, moving them three points clear of Leipzig at the summit. Seeing Bayern begin to recover their merciless selves reminds us how long they have been below club standards; a third consecutive Bundesliga clean sheet was, remarkably, their first in four-and-a-half years. Now, attention turns to the Champions League, where two defeats in three have made Wednesday's visit of Benfica a big one or, as João Palhinha said: “a final for us”.

Perhaps even more pertinently, Bayern now lead Leverkusen by seven points after the champions dropped points for a second straight week in a home stalemate with Stuttgart. Matches between last season's top two have been unmissable for a while, so a goalless draw was a genuine shock. The main architect of the result was visiting goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, outstanding in keeping Leverkusen at bay as he pitches to be Germany's number one. There was strange satisfaction for Die Werkself at a first Bundesliga clean sheet and what Granit Xhaka described as “definitely our best performance of the season,” before Xabi Alonso's Tuesday return to Anfield. Three cheers too for Holstein Kiel, first-time Bundesliga winners over Heidenheim and now four points clear of last place after crisis club Bochum were flamed 7-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt, who sit third in the table.

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