The record cup winners against the third-division team: when FC Bayern begin their 2023/24 DFB Cup campaign at SC Preußen Münster on Tuesday night (20:45 CEST), it's clear who the favourites are – and the stats back that up. SInce the 1995/96 season, the Munich men have won all 28 of their opening games in the competition – a current record. It's almost 30 years (August 1994) since the Reds' last first-round exit, a 1-0 loss at TSV Vestenbergsgreuth.
Second meeting with Preußen
Preußen Münster and Bayern are meeting in a competitive fixture for just the second time. The first also came in the first round of the DFB Cup in the 2014/15 season, when the Bavarians eased through with a 4-1 win thanks to goals from Mario Götze, Thomas Müller, David Alaba and Claudio Pizarro.
Münster won three of last four first-round ties
That 4-1 defeat to Bayern in 2014 was the only time in their last four DFB Cup campaigns that Münster haven't progressed beyond the first round. Although in their last appearance in the cup in August 2021, they went through in rather strange circumstances. Preußen actually lost 3-1 to VfL Wolfsburg after extra time, but were awarded the win retrospectively after then Wolfsburg coach Mark van Bommel had made one substitution too many.
No problems against underdogs
Bayern have prevailed in 40 of their last 41 DFB Cup ties against lower-league opponents. During this time, Holstein Kiel of Bundesliga 2 were the only side from a lower tier to knock out the Bavarians, winning 6-5 on penalties in the second round in 2020/21. And since a second-round defeat to Magdeburg in 2000 (4-2 on pens), FCB have got through all 26 of their encounters with third or fourth-tier clubs.
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