On Saturday evening (kick-off 18:30 CEST), FC Bayern and Holstein Kiel meet in the Bundesliga for the first time. The Storks are the 56th different opponents that the Munich men have come up against in the German top flight. Ahead of the clash in the far north, fcbayern.com looks back at some memorable debut duels.
Surprise in first Bundesliga season
This much is true: first encounters with Bayern have rarely brought joy for the opposition. In 55 maiden meetings in the Bundesliga, the Bavarians have emerged victorious 38 times, with nine draws and eight defeats. The last match of this sort that Bayern didn't win was 24 years ago, when they narrowly lost 1-0 to Energie Cottbus in 2000. Since then, new opponents have been no match for the German record champions, who have won all nine games. They'll be hoping to make it 10 on Saturday.
As good as that record is from a Bayern point of view, it didn't start well 59 years ago. FCB played their very first fixture in the Bundesliga, as a newcomer themselves following promotion in 1965, against none other than TSV 1860 Munich. The Lions won 1-0 in the city derby, a painful defeat but one which served as a spark for a surprisingly good first season. The meetings with 1860 – who went on to win the title – Borussia Dortmund (0-2) and 1. FC Köln (1-6) were the only debut duels in which FCB lost (W12 D2). The team of Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller finished the campaign in third place – impressive for a promoted side!
In the gallery you can click through Bayern's debut duels against the current Bundesliga teams:
Emphatic win during Oktoberfest
Under coach Zlatko "Tschik" Čajkovsk, the team made quite an impression in their first meeting against Borussia Neunkirchen, with a magnificent 6-0 victory at the Grünwalder Stadion on 4 September 1965. Rainer Ohlhauser, Gerd Müller (two each), Rudolf Nafziger and Dieter Brenninger were the scorers against the Saarland club, who these days find themselves in the sixth tier. The role as outsiders appeared to suit Bayern, that was until the maiden match at Köln on 11 December 1965. The Munich men were brought down to earth with a bump as they went back home with a 6-1 beating.
In contrast, Bayern delivered an emphatic win of their own in the first Bundesliga game against Waldhof Mannheim on 17 September 1983, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge hitting a hat-trick in a 6-0 success at the Olympiastadion. It was even more one-sided when SG Wattenscheid 09 took on FCB in the German top flight for the first time on 24 September 1990. Jupp Heynckes' side put seven goals past the newcomers during the Oktoberfest period, scored by Roland Wohlfarth, Brian Laudrup (two each), Stefan Effenberg, Manfred Bender and Jürgen Kohler. The debut duel at VfL Wolfsburg on 9 August 1997 was an equally high-scoring affair, which the record champions won 5-2 in the end. Giovane Élber and Ruggiero Rizzitelli each bagged a brace, Thomas Strunz scoring the other goal.
So, what entertainment will Bayern's 56th debut duel against Holstein Kiel provide, we wonder?
More facts on the match in Kiel:
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