The Allianz Arena is set for its first competitive outing of the new season. After travelling to Mönchengladbach for the Bundesliga opener and to Dortmund for the Supercup, FC Bayern play their first home game against 1. FC Köln on Sunday (kick-off 17:30 CEST). The Bavarians go into it on a run of 27 Bundesliga home matches without defeat (W22 D5) – the longest current run in Germany’s top flight. Read on for the other important stats.
1. Impressive run against Köln
Bayern won 5-1 at the Allianz Arena in the most recent meeting with the Rhineland club in late February.
FCB have won each of their last seven league matches against Köln and are unbeaten in the last 14, winning 13 of those. Bayern do not have a longer winning run or unbeaten run against any other current Bundesliga team.
2. Serge Gnabry’s favourite opponents
In the last meeting between the two teams, Serge Gnabry netted twice, taking his tally to nine goals in seven Bundesliga encounters with the Billy Goats – more than against any other side. It was also the third time he’s scored more than once against Köln. He’s not done that against any other Bundesliga club on more than one occasion.
3. Lewandowski eyes personal best
Having scored 41 goals last season, Robert Lewandowski was straight back among the goals on Matchday 1.
World’s best player Robert Lewandowski has now scored in 11 consecutive Bundesliga games going back to last season. If he gets on the scoresheet again on Sunday, the Pole will equal his personal Bundesliga record from the 2012/13 campaign, when he scored in 12 successive matches for Borussia Dortmund. The longest goalscoring run in the German top flight stands at 16 games and belongs to the legendary and, sadly, recently deceased Gerd Müller from the 1969/70 season. Moreover, Lewandowski has scored in his last five Bundesliga outings against Köln (seven in total) – against no other current Bundesliga team does he have a longer goalscoring run. And another thing: the striker’s 41 goals last season is seven more than the whole Köln team registered (34).
4. Bayern with twice as many wins
These two sides will meet for the 95th time in the Bundesliga on Sunday. With 48 wins to 23, Bayern have recorded more than twice as many victories as the Billy Goats, while the points have been shared on 23 occasions. The goal difference also clearly favours FCB at 191:120.
5. Each other’s bogey team?
In the Bundesliga, Köln have only lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach (51 times) more often than they have to FCB (48). However, at home, Bayern have a higher loss percentage (19%) against Effzeh than against any other current Bundesliga club. The German record champions have lost to the Billy Goats nine times on home soil – Dortmund are the only other team who they’ve been beaten by as often at home in the top flight.
Bayern can set another historic mark on Sunday – find out what here:
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