Four days after their arduous Champions League quarter-final second leg in Madrid, FC Bayern must clear their heads for a Bundesliga home game against Mainz. It’s a challenge that Bayern are used to and that they’re good at dealing with, as the stats prove: since the start of the 2015/16 season, FCB haven’t lose a single league game following a Champions League match. In 21 such games they’ve won 16 and drawn five, and they’ll looking to continue that run on Saturday. Here are some more facts and stats from fcbayern.com.
FCB clearly ahead
This will be the 22nd Bundesliga meeting between the record German champions and the side from Rhineland-Palatinate. FCB are clearly in front in the head-to-head record with 15 wins, four defeats and only two draws. Bayern have also scored more than double the number of goals as their opponents (54-23). The Reds have been particularly dominant in recent meetings, winning eight of the last nine including a 3-1 success in the reverse fixture this season.
Home comfort for Ancelotti
The one defeat among those nine games was a notable one. The 2-1 reverse in March 2016 was the last time that Bayern lost at home in the league. FCB are unbeaten in 19 Bundesliga games at the Allianz Arena since then (15 wins and four draws) and haven’t conceded more than one goal in any of them, keeping 11 clean sheets. Carlo Ancelotti is yet to lose a home league game as Bayern coach.
Defensive strength
This success has been built on a strong defence. In 29 games this season, the ball has landed in the Bayern net on only 15 occasions. This is exactly half the number of the next-best defence in the league, RB Leipzig, and less than a third of the number of goals that Mainz have conceded (47). There’s a big difference in terms of points too: Bayern on 69 have collected more than twice as many as Mainz on 32.
Beware of set-pieces
Bayern will need to be on their guard at set-pieces on Saturday. Eight of the 05ers’ last nine goals have come from dead-ball situations and they’ve scored a total of 17 goals from them this season – only Hoffenheim and Ingolstadt (18 each) are more dangerous at set-pieces. Mainz are particularly strong in the air and have scored more headed goals (12) than any other team in the Bundesliga. However Bayern are the only team in the league that haven’t conceded a headed goal yet this season.
Debut for Willenborg
Frank Willenborg will take charge of his first match involving FCB on Saturday. The 38 year-old referee from Osnabrück will be assisted by Sven Jablonksi and Christoph Bonhorst, with Arno Blos as fourth official.
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