German champions Borussia Dortmund have hit back in the war-of-words started by Uli Hoeness after the Bayern Munich president dubbed their Bundesliga rivals as "regional".
"I always speak with the highest respect of Bayern's achievements in the last few decades," Dortmund chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke told German daily Bild.
"I would hope that after the recent work by Dortmund, some would come back, but you clearly can't expect that at the moment."
Bayern have finished the last two seasons without winning any titles and Hoeness has stirred up the rivalry with Dortmund, who have won the Bundesliga title for the last two seasons and won the league and cup double in May.
"Dortmund is a relatively regional thing. Bayern is a global player," the 60-year-old Hoeness declared at a digital trade fair in Cologne.
"(Dortmund) will never, never, never catch up to our enormous success over the last 30 years.
"They will have to win the German title ten times in a row to perhaps be more popular."
The Bavarians are working hard to break into the Asian market, having toured the Far East on several occasions in recent years, a fact Hoeness was quick to highlight by saying Bayern is much better known in China than Dortmund.
"It is quite clear that Bayern are more popular abroad than Borussia Dortmund, but the margin has been reduced," retorted Watzke.
"Obviously, to match Bayern we would have to be successful for many years, which we have never denied.
"But it's not so important for me, that people in China know where Dortmund is ..."
The next time Dortmund are set to face Bayern is at Munich's Allianz Arena on Saturday December 1 in the Bundesliga.
Source: AFP
