FCB aiming to end the year on top
Thu, 09/12/21, 14:06
6 Facts on the Bundesliga home match against Mainz
With Barcelona done and dusted, the focus now turns to Mainz 05! At the end of a packed week of football, and three days after the 3-0 home win over the Catalans in the final group stage game of the Champions League, FC Bayern welcome 1. FSV Mainz 05 to the Allianz Arena for Bundesliga Matchday 15 on Saturday. Last weekend, Julian Nagelsmann's team landed a major blow in the crunch match at Borussia Dortmund (3-2), and they're now looking to end the year in first place. Should BVB simultaneously drop points at Bochum, a home win would secure top spot for the Reds with two matchdays still to be played in the Hinrunde. We have the most important facts and stats on the match against Mainz for you:
1. Impressive start to the season
Last Saturday, FCB celebrated a 3-2 win at Dortmund to extend their lead at the top of the table to four points.
With 34 points after 14 games, FC Bayern are enjoying their best Bundesliga season in six years - in 2015/16, under Pep Guardiola, they'd amassed an even more impressive 40 points at this point. Moreover, only one team have scored more goals after 14 BL games than the men from Munich in the current season (45): that was FCB themselves with 48 goals after 14 games in 1976/77.
2. Score to settle
Bayern lost 2-1 in the last encounter at Mainz.
In the last Bundesliga clash with Mainz 05 in April 2021, FC Bayern suffered their first defeat (2-1) after seven straight wins against the Zerofivers. So the goal would appear to be clear for Manuel Neuer & Co: to start a new winning streak!
3. Goals guaranteed
The Munich side have failed to score in just one of their 30 Bundesliga games against Mainz (0-0 at home in April 2012) and racked up a total of 85 goals. Their goal average is higher against FSV (2.83) than against any other team against which the record champions have played at least ten times in the top flight.
4. Nagelsmann can hit 100
Head coach Nagelsmann could celebrate his 100th win in his 199th Bundesliga game as coach - the last coach to achieve their 100th victory earlier than that was Ottmar Hitzfeld in 1996 (in his 187th game).
5. Next records for Lewandowski?
Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace against BVB on the last matchday.
Star striker Robert Lewandowski is on the hunt for yet another record! The Pole is currently on 40 Bundesliga goals for the 2021 calendar year. Gerd Müller is the only player to have bettered that total so far, with 42 goals in 1972 - so Lewy needs two goals in the three remaining Bundesliga games before Christmas to break this record. Lewandowski has scored 19 times in the Bundesliga against Mainz so far - after Wolfsburg (23), Dortmund, Augsburg (22 each) and Freiburg (20), he could break the 20-goal mark for the fifth time against a particular team, something no player has ever achieved before (Gerd Müller also did it against four clubs). Lewy is currently on 16 goals after 14 matchdays, a tally surpassed since 1980 only by the man himself last season (19) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2015/16 (17).
6. In-form Mainz
With 21 points after 14 games, FSV Mainz 05 are enjoying their best BL season in 11 years: in 2010/11 they were actually on 30 points at this point. Bo Svensson's side have lost just one of their last six league games (alongside three wins and two draws), so the record champions will need to be on their guard.
Check out the facts on Bayern's perfect Champions League group stage here:
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