Borussia Dortmund may be defending Bundesliga champions and currently top of the table, but the president of title rivals Bayern Munich has revealed he helped keep them in business a few years ago.

Bayern president Uli Hoeness told fans in Hamburg on Monday how his club had lent Dortmund money to be staff their wages less than a decade ago.

In the mid-1990s Dortmund won the Bundesliga title and the Champions League, but by 2003 they were on the verge of bankruptcy. Hoeness spoke of how the Bavarian giants helped their Ruhr valley rivals out of a tight spot.

Hoeness said: "When (Dortmund) were aware that they could no longer pay their salaries, we gave them €2 million without collateral for a few months."

Later on Monday, Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke (pictured, left, with Hoeness) told Ruhr Nachrichten: "Yes, I can confirm a loan."

Dortmund went two points clear at the top of the table at the weekend after they won 2-0 at Nuremberg and Bayern were held to a draw at Hamburg, a club managed by former Bayern midfielder Thorsten Fink.

In the past Bayern, Germany's richest and most successful club, have also given loans to local rivals 1860 Munich and Hamburg-based club St Pauli.

Eurosport