Encouraging facts & Gnabry's favourite opponents
Wed | 24/05/23 | 16:01
5 facts on the season finale at 1. FC Köln
It's time to give it everything in the season finale. On Saturday (15:30 CEST), at 1. FC Köln, Bayern will be looking to play their part in knocking leaders Borussia Dortmund off the top spot in the final battle for the title. Check out the most important facts and stats to get a feel for the situation.
1. Historic role models - or the somewhat different treble
Since the then league leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen surprisingly lost at SpVgg Unterhaching on the last matchday, Bayern were able to claim the Meisterschale at the end of the 1999/00 season.
Bayern head into the final matchday trailing league leaders Borussia Dortmund by two points. Even though the men from Munich are in the worse position in the championship finale, there's still everything to play for: the German record champions have previously captured the Meisterschale twice in the last match of the season - in 1985/86 SV Werder Bremen and in 1999/2000 Bayer 04 Leverkusen were knocked off their thrones with the finish line in sight. That campaign 23 years ago was also the last season ever in the German top flight in which the second-placed team were able to catch the league leaders on the last matchday. So all we can say is: Do it a third time, guys!
2. Winning run at Köln
Köln have lost more often to the record champions in their own stadium than to any other team (25 times, same as against Mönchengladbach). Since a 3-2 defeat at Müngersdorfer Stadion in February 2011, FC Bayern have also won all eight of their away games at Köln, making it the longest losing streak the home side have had to endure against the same opponents in the top flight. Since then, the Reds haven't lost a single one of the 17 encounters - home or away - with the team from the Rhine (15 wins, two draws).
Bayern and Köln drew 1-1 in the reverse fixture at the Allianz Arena.
3. Help from Mainz not a remote possibility
Dortmund must not win at home on Matchday 34 if Bayern are to leapfrog them - and their opponents Mainz 05 can offer every FCB fan some hope in this respect: the Zerofivers have scored in three of their last five visits to Signal Iduna Park (two wins, one draw).
4. Köln suit Gnabry
Serge Gnabry is maintaining his terrific form: his opener against Leipzig last Saturday meant he's scored in four consecutive Bundesliga games for the first time since the spring of 2018 (personal record) and has now racked up five goals in the same period. 1. FC Köln could now be just the right opponents for the 27-year-old to extend this record even further: In ten Bundesliga clashes with the team from the Rhine, Gnabry has netted 11 times, more than against any other Bundesliga team. Scoring against the Billy Goats on Saturday would also extend his personal record of 14 goals in the league.
Serge Gnabry scored to take the lead against Leipzig on the last matchday, extending his personal record.
5. Köln in impressive form in the run-in
The team from the Rhine have lost just one of their last eight Bundesliga games (four wins, three draws): a 1-0 loss to Freiburg on Matchday 30. The 15 points picked up by Köln in this period have been bettered only by the current top three in the table (RB Leipzig: 18 points, Dortmund: 17, FC Bayern: 16). But: the Billy Goats have struggled in front of their own fans recently: in the Rückrunde, only Werder Bremen (seven) and VfB Stuttgart (eight) have picked up fewer points at home than Steffen Baumgart's side (nine).
There was some good news on Lucas Hernández ahead of the clash at 1. FC Köln:
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