There will again be laughter, singing and swaying to the music – Saturday brings the Oktoberfest and the best time of the year in Munich. And there will also be a festival of football at the Allianz Arena when FC Bayern entertain FC Köln on Bundesliga Matchday 5 (from 15.30 CEST with live text commentary at fcbayern.com). There's every chance the mood at the home of the record champions will be good. Bayern are unbeaten in 15 league games at home (12 wins, three draws) and have won nine of the last ten meetings with FC Köln (one draw). And the overall record against the Goats also leans heavily in favour of the Reds: 44 wins compared with 23 defeats and draws (176 goals for and 94 against). fcbayern.com brings you the key facts ahead of the game.
Current situation
Following the draw at Leipzig, Bayern need to perform at home. "We want to and have to win the game as we want to stay at the top," said Niko Kovač at the pre-match press conference on Thursday. The record champions are unbeaten so far this season but are currently in fourth place on eight points behind Leipzig (10), Dortmund and Freiburg (nine each). The successful start to the Champions League campaign on Wednesday could provide an additional boost.
Opponents
FC Köln have made a mixed start to the new season. The newly promoted team from Cologne have only won one of the first four games and are currently 15th in the table with three points. The team coached by Achim Beierlorzer are susceptible at the back. FC Köln have only kept one clean sheet in the last 12 games over two seasons. However, they are not a team to hide as was evident in the games against Dortmund and Gladbach.
Personnel
There were no major problems after this week's game against Red Star Belgrade. "Of course, some players have a couple of knocks after such an intensive game but it's all looking good," declared Kovač. Regarding Joshua Kimmich, who went down early in the game, "everything is okay now." With Lucas Hernandez (ankle) and Kingsley Coman (neck), "we'll have to see how it develops," added the head coach. Definitely absent are David Alaba, who returned to light training on Friday, and Leon Goretzka.
The views of the coaches
Niko Kovač: "Obviously, we have the after effects of the game against Red Star Belgrade but on the weekend it will come down to what happens between your ears, that is in your head. We definitely want to win and it's incredibly important for us. We will be tested from the first minute but we also want to test the opposition."
Achim Beierlorzer: "A lot of teams have already succeeded in getting a result at Bayern. And, of course, we believe we are capable of that too. Damage limitation would be completely the wrong approach. I can't tell the team: Let's just lose by a small margin if possible. Of course, it will be a really big challenge but we want to be proactive and play with courage. And we also want to show that courage in the line-up and our tactics."
Top fact on the game
With one win, two draws and two defeats the generally impressive record for Bayern during Oktoberfest wavered a little last season. "We want to improve on the stats from last year and I'm confident we'll succeed," promised Kovač.
Referee
Patrick Ittrich is the referee on Saturday. The 40-year-old from Hamburg has already refereed Bayern this season in the 3-1 DFB Cup win at Cottbus. Ittrich will be assisted at the weekend by Norbert Grudzinski and Sascha Thielert running the lines and Johann Pfeifer is the fourth official. The video assistant referee is Robert Schröder.
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