FC Bayern have enjoyed their recent trips to Cologne. From their last 12 Bundesliga visits to the Cathedral City, the Munich men have won ten (D1), scoring 28 times. At the other end of the pitch, the record champions have kept clean sheets on both of their last visits. No team has ever managed to leave Cologne with three in a row. As ever, fcbayern.com has trawled through all the facts and figures for you ahead of the game at 1. FC Köln on Saturday (kick-off at 15:30, and you can follow it live via our ticker and web radio).
Positive record, but...
Bayern’s overall head-to-head record with the Billy Goats is a positive one. FCB have 41 victories from 87 meetings with Köln (D23) and have scored 169 goals to 116 for the opposition from the Cathedral City. BUT, only Werder Bremen (26) and Borussia Dortmund (24) have beaten FC Bayern more often in the Bundesliga than the side from Cologne (23). Although the last Köln victory over FCB was in February 2011 (3-2).
Vidal the opener
Arturo Vidal already has three goals to his name this season, and all three have put Bayern 1-0 ahead in games. The Chilean opened the scoring on matchday 8 against Borussia Mönchengladbach after 16 minutes (final score 2-0), in the 90th minute on matchday 20 at Ingolstadt (2-0) and once more last weekend in the 17th minute to start the demolition of Hamburg.
Top scorers and key players
Robert Lewandowski is in sublime form right now. In his last ten Bundesliga games, the Pole has an impressive 12 goals and is currently the Bundesliga’s top goalscorer with 19 goals – level with Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and ahead of Anthony Modeste (17). Speaking of Modeste, everything Lewandowski is for FCB, the Frenchman is for Köln. Modeste has scored 55 percent of Cologne’s league goals this campaign. No other player has scored a greater proportion of his team’s goals than the 28-year-old. For example, Lewandowski has been responsible for 35 percent of Bayern’s goals. Moreover, the Billy Goats have failed to win any of the nine games where Modeste has not scored.
Dr. Drees on call
Dr. Jochen Drees will take charge of his third Bayern game this season when the Reds visit Cologne. Both of his previous two FCB call-outs were to the Allianz Arena. The 46-year-old from Münster-Sarmsheim kept watch over the 2-0 win over Gladbach on matchday 8 and the DFB Cup last-16 victory over VfL Wolfsburg (1-0). Dr. Drees will be supported by Timo Gerach and Christian Gittelmann, fourth official is Mike Pickel.
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