How Bayern want to finish off Bundesliga season against Köln

FC Bayern conclude the 2025/26 Bundesliga season at home to 1. FC Köln on Saturday (15:30 CET). The meeting rounds off a record-breaking campaign for the Munich men, against an Effzeh side who secured survival with the minimum number of points. The two teams have met 101 times in the Bundesliga, with 54 wins for Bayern, 23 Köln victories and 24 draws. Köln topped the all-time Bundesliga table before FCB took over in the mid 1980s.

Bayern on record course

Bayern are unbeaten in 22 matches against Köln since a 3-2 defeat in Cologne in February 2011 (W20, D2) – only against VfL Wolfsburg are they currently on a longer unbeaten run (25 games). Regardless of this match-up, the German record champions are enjoying the third-best Bundesliga season in the club’s history with 86 points after 33 matches. Victory on Saturday would mean 89 points and the third-highest final points tally after the 2012/13 (91) and 2023/14 (90) campaigns. Bayern also have the chance to finish a league season with just one defeat for the third time after 1986/87 and 2012/13,

The Reds’ attacking numbers are also sensational: 117 goals is already the most in a single Bundesliga campaign. In fact, in the top five European leagues, only Real Madrid have surpassed this tally in this millennium: 121 in 2011/12 and 118 in 2014/15. FCB have also gained 29 points from losing positions this term, equalling the Bundesliga season record set by Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1999/2000.

Another record could be broken on Saturday. If another under-20 player makes his debut on Matchday 34, he would be the 11th teenager to feature for FCB in the German top flight this season, setting a new record (currently ten, shared with Schalke 04 from the 1980/81 season).

Köln surviving on the minimum

Köln, in contrast, have won just one of their last 13 Bundesliga matches (3-1 against Werder Bremen), drawing six and losing six. The promoted side are in 14th place with 32 points – only once in the three-point era has the team in 14th position had fewer points with one match left (Bochum in 2008/09 with 31). If the Billy Goats end the campaign in the same position with the same points, it would be the joint-lowest tally ever for a 14th-placed side (equal with St. Pauli in 2024/25 and Bochum in 2008/09). In eight of the last 11 Bundesliga seasons, 32 points after 34 matchdays would have seen you relegated or at least finish in the play-off place.

No away win since October 2025

Away from home, Effzeh are waiting for their first win since the 1-0 victory at TSG Hoffenheim in early October 2025. It’s 12 Bundesliga away matches without a win since then (D6, L6), the longest run of its kind in the German top flight right now. Köln have registered just two successes on the road all season, the same as bottom two Heidenheim and St. Pauli.

A look at the visitors’ defensive stats reveals a particular vulnerability to set pieces. The Billy Goats have conceded 25 goals from dead balls – a league high and joint club record since detailed data collection began in 2004/05. That’s one reason why they’ve only kept three clean sheets, with only Wolfsburg (two) and Heidenheim (one) registering fewer. If it stays that way, it would be another unwanted record in a top-flight campaign for the Cologne club.

Olise symbolic of Bayern season

Michael Olise has shaped the Munich attack like few wingers before him. With 15 goals and 19 assists, he holds the record for the most direct goal involvements (34) for a winger in a season since 2004/05, surpassing Jadon Sancho (33 for Dortmund in 2019/20).

Olise is also just the second player since detailed data collection to register at least 15 goals and 15 assists in one season. Eight of the Frenchman’s total of 27 Bundesliga goals have come from outside the box, and he’s netted four times from distance for the second successive campaign. Since 2004/05, only ex-Bayern man Michael Ballack has scored more long-distance goals in a Bundesliga season (five in 2005/06). What’s more, the 24-year-old has been directly involved in more attempts on goal than any other player in the league (79 assists, 100 finishes). He’s just two assists short of Thomas Müller’s record of 21 from the 2019/20 season.