The 59th Bundesliga season starts with a real classic: In the opening game, Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Bayern will face off at Borussia Park from 20:30 CEST on Friday evening. Read about what makes the opening match special this year and which records Bayern would like to build on after the summer break in these facts and figures for the first matchday.
1. Champions undefeated in opening game
The meeting between the Foals and Bayern will be the 20th edition of the official Bundesliga opening game, which traditionally involves the reigning champions. The record is impressive: the title holders have won 15 out of 19 games and shared the points four times, with FCB accounting for 11 wins and two draws. Now the opening match is taking place under difficult conditions, because the champions have to play away from home for the first time.
2. Will the Bayern goals keep flowing in 2021/22?
For only the third time in Bundesliga history - after 1. FC Köln in 1963/64 and treble-winning Bayern in 2012/13 - FCB managed to score at least one goal in every game last season. The Munich goal run is already 47 Bundesliga games or 71 competitive games. That's exactly what Julian Nagelsmann and his team want to continue.
3. Hard-fought historic fixture
Matches against Mönchengladbach have always been a big fixture on the Bayern calendar. The Munich side have lost 26 of their 106 Bundesliga games against Borussia - equal-most with Werder Bremen since joining the German top flight. With almost twice as many wins (51), though, Bayern still comfortably lead the all-time record. Over the past four seasons, the Foals have won the first meeting of the season, while Bayern have triumphed in the return fixture. FCB want to end this trend with a good start to the season.
4. Nagelsmann becomes third-youngest FCB coach
When he makes his competitive debut in the dugout, Nagelsmann will be exactly 34 years and 21 days old, making him Bayern's third-youngest coach. Only Reinhard Saftig (31 years, 118 days) and Sören Lerby (33 years, 253 days) were younger for their first games.
5. Lewandowski, king of the fast starters
In the 58 Bundesliga seasons to date, an FC Bayern player has scored the first goal of the season 16 times. That is the highest figure ahead of Borussia Dortmund (eight times). Who better than Robert Lewandowski to extend this record? The Pole set a 41-goal record last season and has scored in each of his ten most recent Bundesliga appearances. If he nets in the Gladbach game, he will equal his longest run of goals in the Bayern shirt (11 games in a row at the start of the 2019/20 season). In addition, The Best FIFA Men's Player has scored a goal on Matchday 1 in each of the past six seasons - that is a current Bundesliga record.
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