Having laboured to a single-goal win over Hertha BSC the week before FC Bayern München were pitted in the late Saturday afternoon Spitzenspiel against third-placed Bayer Leverkusen, and once again claimed all three points with relative ease – though there was more than the odd scare to keep Pep Guardiola’s side on their toes. Continue reading FCB v Bayer 04 Leverkusen
After the defeat in midweek against Manchester City – their first since the pre-season Super Cup in August – FC Bayern returned to Bundesliga action where next year’s Champions’ League final will be held – the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Although struggling for form in the bottom half of the table, home side Hertha BSC would offer enough resistance to ensure that Pep Guardiola’s side returned to Munich knowing that their three points had been hard-fought and well-earned. Continue reading Hertha BSC v FCB
After a frustrating week that had started with the injury to skipper Philipp Lahm, things would end on a bright note for FC Bayern against high-flying TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, with Bastian Schweinsteiger coming off the bench to warm the soul of every fan of Die Roten everywhere. It would be yet another comfortable victory, and one that would once again belie the rapidly increasing injury problems plaguing coach Pep Guardiola. Continue reading FCB v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Having secured their place in the knockout stages of the Champions’ League with a ruthlessly efficient 2-0 win over AS Roma in midweek, FC Bayern returned to domestic action with a journey up to Frankfurt to take on mid-table Eintracht. Despite a little team-tweaking from coach Pep Guardiola with Thomas Müller returning for the injured David Alaba and Danté coming in for Medhi Benatia – there was little scope for extensive changes due to the growing injury list. Continue reading Eintracht Frankfurt v FCB
Week ten of the Bundesliga season saw FC Bayern entertain Borussia Dortmund in the latest instalment of Der Klassiker – but one that had a slightly different pre-match flavour from what we had become used to in recent seasons. Usually a top of the table clash, this season’s encounter at the Allianz Arena would pit the high-flying Bavarians against a Dortmund side struggling for form near the the foot of the table. Continue reading FCB v Borussia Dortmund
The top of the table clash between FC Bayern and Borussia Mönchengladbach would prove to be just that – with both sides slugging it out but unable to provide a knockout blow in ninety minutes of pulsating football. This was a game that proved that a 0-0 stalemate can be exciting, and in a well-balanced encounter a draw was arguably the right result. Continue reading Borussia Mönchengladbach v FCB
After a busy international break it was back to domestic Bundesliga action, and in front of a packed Allianz Arena FC Bayern turned out a sparkling performance against old foes Werder Bremen. Ahead of the upcoming journey to Rome and what will arguably be the toughest game of the season so far, table-proppers Bremen would not exactly offer the most testing opposition in a game that provided a number of firsts – and a welcome return. Continue reading FCB v SV Werder Bremen
Following a number of “almost, but not quite there” performances that have defined their season so far, FC Bayern would finally click into gear as the Bundesliga moved into week seven – with sixth-placed Hannover 96 being brushed aside with consummate ease. With Pep Guardiola’s side not quite in top gear Hannover coach Tayfun Korkut would have given his team a chance of creating an upset, but within a quarter of an hour any such hope had been blown away by a dominant Bayern side. Continue reading FCB v Hannover 96
Finally at the top of the Bundesliga table with eleven points from their five games, Bayern head north-west to the RheinEnergieStadion for a meeting with 1. FC Köln, back in the Bundesliga after a two-year hiatus in the 2. Bundesliga. While the meeting between these two clubs is no longer the big-power battle as it was in the 1980s, there is plenty of history there to guarantee a well-contested match – and when up against Bayern the club known as Die Geißböcke – the “Billy Goats” – have always been hard-working opponents.
The last meeting between the two teams would take place on the final week of the 2011/12 season, with Bayern running out 4-1 winners at the RheinEnergieStadion with goals from Thomas Müller (2), Arjen Robben and an own goal from Canadian Kevin McKenna. A repeat of that result will do nicely.
Week six of the Bundesliga campaign saw Bayern travel north-west to take on 1. FC Köln, last year’s champions of the second division. The team known as Die Geißböcke or “Billygoats” had been among Bayern’s rivals in the early 1980s, and while the intensity may have waned over the years with the decline of the Rhineland outfit there was still something of a classic “old school” feel about this meeting at a packed RheinEnergieStadion. Continue reading 1. FC Köln v FCB