FC Bayern returned to Bundesliga action with a journey north-west to Paderborn, with normal service being resumed. The home side must surely have taken some heart from Bayern’s lack of sharpness in front of goal against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek, but any hopes of pulling off a shock were quickly quashed as Bayern once again clicked into gear at a packed Benteler-Arena. Continue reading SC Paderborn 07 v FCB
Fresh after their eight-goal demolition of Hamburger SV at the weekend, Bayern were back in Champions’ League action against Ukrainians Shakhtar Donetsk, but after an insipid and at times undisciplined performance they had to make do with a share of the spoils at the Arena L’viv against a solid but professionally cynical opponent. Continue reading Shakhtar Donetsk v FCB
A 4-1 thrashing in Wolfsburg. A scrappy 1-1 draw with ten men at home to Schalke. A laboured 2-0 win at struggling Stuttgart. Things had not started well for FC Bayern after the winter break, and already there were a few rumblings among commentators, critics and supporters. Four weeks into the Rückrunde the real Bayern suddenly made a reappearance, with poor Hamburger SV feeling the full force of another record-breaking display from Die Roten. Continue reading FCB v Hamburger SV
Coming into their third match of 2015 FC Bayern had yet to register a win, but they finally got off the mark against an uninspired and highly negative Stuttgart side that at the end of the day found themselves rooted to the foot of the Bundesliga table. Having just taken a point from their first two matches of the Rückrunde there was just a little more pressure on Bayern, but after a stodgy opening period the gulf in class between the two teams would finally tell. Continue reading VfB Stuttgart v FCB
FC Bayern’s 4-1 mauling at the hands of VfL Wolfsburg had provided something of a shock to all fans of the club, and the “Englische Woche” fixture against Schalke 04 couldn’t come to soon – if just to get back on track as quickly as possible and get the horror of their first defeat of the season out of their system. While the performance in a chilly Allianz Arena had been a marked improvement on the disaster just three days earlier, things would again not quite go to plan. Continue reading FCB v FC Schalke 04
After what had felt like an eternity during the Winterpause, FC Bayern finally returned to Bundesliga action in a mouth-watering top-two clash with VfL Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena – with the Wolves hoping to narrow the gap at the top of the table and Pep Guardiola’s unbeaten side looking to kick off the Rückrunde by extending their unbeaten record. The Red Dragons London also returned to their Stammtisch in excellent spirits, but by the end of the evening many were left scratching their heads after what was an insipid performance by Die Roten. In short, it had been nothing short of a mauling by the ravenous Wolves. Continue reading VfL Wolfsburg v FCB
The winter break could not have come any sooner for injury-ravaged FC Bayern, but despite having ten players out through injury or illness and four youngsters on the bench they completed an excellent Hinrunde with a hard-fought 2-1 win against an energetic FSV Mainz 05. With the game all set to finish one apiece, Arjen Robben found the back of the ner right at the death to take Bayern to a record forty-five points at the half-way stage of the Bundesliga campaign – surpassing their previous mark of forty-three. Continue reading 1. FSV Mainz 05 v FCB
FC Bayern’s final home game before the winter break ended with a comfortable if slightly underwhelming 2-0 win over relegation-threatened SC Freiburg – more than enough to maintain their unblemished record at the Allianz Arena. There were a few slight injury concerns in a match where Manuel Neuer wouldn’t have to make a single save, but the evening would finish with a spectacular laser light show for the 71,000 crowd. Continue reading FCB v SC Freiburg
With the season approaching the winter break FC Bayern travelled a short distance up the road to take on local rivals FC Augsburg, and in a match that had been tight and well-contested for the best part of an hour the champions were finally able break the shackles to collect three more points – and secure the unofficial title of Herbstmeister – with four excellent goals in the space of of thirteen minutes. Continue reading FC Augsburg v FCB
With their position at the top of the group and their place in the knockout stages already assured, FC Bayern saw out the final match of their group campaign with a clinically professional if not necessarily spectacular display against a robust but ultimately toothless CSKA Moscow. Continue reading FCB v CSKA Moskva