The year 2021 is reaching its conclusion - and 365 days full of Bayern records are coming to an end. Not a single month in which the German record champions were in action has gone by without a record being set. We chart FCB's historic year:
1. Fighting from the start
The 5-2 win against Mainz at the start of the year was the ending of an unusual run.
Bayern began with a record in their very first match of the year. The Munich men came back from 2-0 down at half-time to win 5-2 against Mainz, which proved to be the climax and the conclusion of an extraordinary run: it was the eighth game in a row in which Bayern had trailed against the 05ers, but they didn't lose a single one. That has never happened before in the German top flight.
2. Lewandowski's away record
Staying in January, Robert Lewandowski was among the goalscorers in the 4-0 victory at Schalke, becoming the first player in Bundesliga history to score in eight successive away matches. The Pole’s hunger for goals on the road was far from quenched for this year, though. At Dortmund in early December, the 33-year-old bagged away goals number 117 and 118 in the Bundesliga (now on 120) and thus broke the record set by Klaus Fischer.
3. Club World Cup title completes historic sextet
The 1-0 success over UANL Tigres in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in February made it six titles within 12 months for the Bavarians, equalling the achievement of Barcelona in 2009. The Catalans had been the only club team to ever scoop the historic sextet.
A triumph for the ages: Bayern celebrated a historic success at the Club World Cup.
4. A youngster writes history
Jamal Musiala netted his first Champions League goal in the 4-1 win at Lazio on 23 February 2021 at the age of 17 years and 363 days. He became the youngest German goalscorer and FCB’s youngest goalscorer in the competition.
5. Club record equalled against Lazio
Bayern also beat Lazio 2-1 in mid-March, extending their unbeaten run in Europe’s premier club competition to 19 games (W18 D1) and equalling the club record set between March 2001 and April 2002. Only Manchester United (25 games unbeaten between 2007 and 2009) have gone longer without defeat in the Champions League, while Ajax also managed 19 matches in a row from 1994 to 1996.
6. Neuer with milestone
Manuel Neuer registered his 200th clean sheet in the Bundesliga in the 1-0 win over RB Leipzig on 3 April 2021, something no other goalkeeper has achieved. The Germany number one is now up to 208 clean sheets, with Oliver Kahn in second place on 196.
7. Title-winning run extended
Bayern equalled Juventus’ record in Europe’s top five leagues with their ninth league title in a row in May.
The record champions lifted the Meisterschale for the ninth year in a row at the start of May, equalling a record among Europe’s top five leagues. Up until then, only Juventus had managed this, but their run ended last season after the ninth title as Inter Milan claimed the 2020/21 Scudetto.
8. Goalscoring run away from home
When Bayern visited Freiburg in mid-May, they scored for the 34th consecutive Bundesliga away match, setting another record. The Munich men have since extended this goalscoring run to 42 away outings.
9. New European goalscoring record
The hunt for records continued after the summer break. In the 3-2 win over Köln in August, Bayern found the opposition net for the 74th competitive match in a row, which saw them surpass the previous record in Europe’s top leagues set by Real Madrid, who netted in 73 successive games in 2016 and 2017. The run only ended in October, after 85 competitive matches.
Julian Nagelsmann has been able to celebrate lots of goals in his first six months as Bayern coach.
10. Another dream start in the Champions League
Bayern kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 victory at Barcelona, making it 18 consecutive opening wins in the competition – an outright record in the UCL.
11. Winner Lewandowski
Two weeks later, Bayern won 5-0 against Dynamo Kyiv and Lewandowski thus won a Champions League match for the 18th time in a row. No player in the history of the competition had ever achieved that before him - the Pole now has 22 wins in a row.
12. Scoring streak record extended
Robert Lewandowski scored nine goals in the Champions League group stage and thus played a big part in the goalscoring successes of the side.
The 5-0 win over Kyiv was followed by 4-0 and 5-2 wins over Benfica in October. Only once before had the German record champions celebrated winning three games in a row scoring at least four goals in each game in the European Cup - and that was almost 50 years ago (1972). Moreover, no other team has done that before on the European stage. In addition, the 5-0 against Kyiv and the 5-2 against Benfica were already Champions League games number 23 and 24 in which FCB have scored at least five goals. That record is well clear of second-best Barcelona, who've done so 20 times.
13. Sané with stunners
Leroy Sané curled in a free kick in the 4-0 win in Lisbon in mid-October, as he did in January in Kiel and in September against Bochum. Three goals from direct free kicks in competitive matches from Sané is the best from any individual player in the Bundesliga in 2021.
14. Unbeaten away in UCL
Bayern beat Kyiv 2-1 in their final Champions League away game of the year at the end of November, keeping alive a streak that has lasted since the end of October 2017: the Bavarians are undefeated in 21 away games in the UCL - a record!
Bayern celebrated their highest Bundesliga win of 2021 with a 7-0 drubbing of Bochum in mid-September - Leroy Sané scored with a direct free kick.
15. Calendar year goalscoring record in Bundesliga broken
In November against Bielefeld, Bayern set a new record for league goals in a calendar year, scoring their 102nd. The side ended up scoring 116 goals, smashing the previous record set by 1. FC Köln in 1977 (101 goals). Bayern's 56 goals after the first half of the season is also a new record.
16. Perfect group stage
For the second time after the 2019/20 treble-winning season, Bayern finished the Champions League group stage with the maximum haul of 18 points from six games. With a goal difference of +19, the Munich side also equalled their own record from 2019/20 for the best group stage in the UCL.
With the 3-0 win in Barcelona on Matchday 1, FCB set the tone for an extraordinary Champions League group stage.
17. Nagelsmann youngest to break the 100 club
At 34 years and 141 days, Julian Nagelsmann became the youngest coach in Bundesliga history to celebrate his 100th league win, against Mainz in mid-December.
18. Gnabry dazzles to equal personal record
With three goals and two assists in the 5-0 win in Stuttgart, Serge Gnabry equalled his personal record of five goal contributions in a competitive match, something he had previously only managed in the 7-2 win at Tottenham Hotspur in October 2019. Only Leverkusen's Patrik Schick also managed five goal involvements in a Bundesliga match this year (in a 7-1 win over Fürth).
19. Record winner Müller
Alongside Serge Gnabry, Thomas Müller also had plenty of reason to celebrate after the 5-0 win in Stuttgart.
Also in the 5-0 win at Stuttgart, Thomas Müller celebrated his 292nd Bundesliga win with Bayern and broke Manfred Kaltz's record for the most Bundesliga wins with one club (291 with Hamburger SV). Müller also beat Kaltz for the record of the most wins as an outfield player.
20. Lewandowski record - forever?
Lewandowski scored his 43rd Bundesliga goal this year in the last game of 2021 against Wolfsburg, breaking Gerd Müller's record: in 1972, the Bomber scored 42 goals.
21. Müller to be record assist provider
Thomas Müller became the first player to assist 24 goals in the Bundesliga in a calendar year since detailed data collection began in 2004/05. His 13 assists this season is also a new record for the first half of a season since data collection began.
Read more about Lewy's 43-goal 2021 here:
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