It's first against fourth in the Bundesliga this Saturday as league leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach host FC Bayern at the Borussia Park. It’s a fixture with a rich history, as the two teams have already clashed 102 times in the Bundesliga. The 1970s were marked by the clubs' rivalry, with either Gladbach or the Bavarians becoming German champions between 1969 and 1977. Three times (1970, 1971 and 1974) both clubs even took the first two places after exciting title battles. fcbayern.com takes a look at more facts and figures surrounding the fixture.
Balance clearly in Bayern's favour
Mönchengladbach and FC Bayern will meet for the 103rd time in the Bundesliga. The record champions have celebrated more than twice as many wins (49) as Borussia (24), and the points have been shared 29 times. The Reds have scored 195 goals in this fixture, while Gladbach have netted 128 times. Both teams have conceded more goals against each other than against any other team in the top tier.
The last encounter
At the beginning of March this year FC Bayern thrashed the Foals 5-1 at Borussia-Park. That success on Matchday 24 heralded the start of a strong run of five wins from six league games with an aggregate score of 27-3, which took the record champions back to the top of the table again and helped them take an important step towards their 29th German championship. Robert Lewandowski (2), Javi Martinez, Thomas Müller and Serge Gnabry scored for the Reds, Lars Stindl got a consolation goal for Gladbach.
Foals in top form
Gladbach have collected an impressive 28 points from their first 13 games, making this the second-best Bundesliga season in the club's history. The only time the team had more points at this stage of the campaign was in their last title-winning campaign of 1976/77 (33, using three points for a win).
Reunion with Alexander Zickler
Alexander Zickler has been assisting head coach Marco Rose at Borussia since the summer. Between 1993 and 2005, the 45-year-old played a total of 214 Bundesliga matches and scored 51 goals for the record champions, with whom he won numerous trophies, including seven Bundesliga titles, three DFB Cups, as well as the 1996 UEFA Cup and 2001 Champions League.
Kimmich at risk
Joshua Kimmich is currently on four yellow cards and, following a fifth, would be suspended for the next game. But his last yellow was three games ago, in the home win against Borussia Dortmund. Gladbach's Stefan Lainer and Denis Zakaria also face suspension, should they pick up a booking.
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