The lowdown on Bayern Munich
With Wednesday's Champions League game almost upon us, we take a closer look at a team that has caused FC Barcelona a number of difficulties in recent years.
Where they are from
Munich is the capital of Bavaria in Southern Germany, and the third largest city in the country (after Berlin and Hamburg). Regularly ranked among the best cities in the world to live in, the venue for the 1972 Olympic Games enjoys a stunning setting on the northern reaches of the Alps and is one of the world’s most important hubs for science, technology and research, as well its annual Oktoberfest, where large quantities of another famous Bavarian product, beer, get consumed.
The club
Bayern Munich was founded in 1900, just one year after FC Barcelona, and also like the Catalans does not only have a football team, but also other sports including basketball, handball and even chess.
The club was not included in the original Bundesliga in 1963, but soon rose to become by far Germany’s biggest and most successful team, winning more titles (33) than anyone else, and six European Cup/Champions Leagues, including three in a row in the seventies captained by the legendary Franz Beckenbauer.
The club’s local rival is 1860 Munich, although the bigger rivalry in Bavaria is arguably with FC Nürnberg, and nationally with Borussia Dortmund. Bayern has over 300,000 official members, which is even more than FC Barcelona, and 4,557 official supporters’ clubs. The 75,000 seats at the Allianz Arena have been selling out for every game for years and with over 10 million fans spread all around the country, their away games are invariably sell-outs too.
This season
After an incredible run of 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles, Bayern had to settle for second place last season behind the unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen. But this year has got off to a strong start, and after seven games they are still unbeaten, although they were held to draws by Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt.
They're top of the league but only on goal difference ahead of RB Leipzig, who look ready to mount a serious bid for their first ever title this season. Last weekend, Bayern comfortably saw off Stuttgart 4-0, with Harry Kane claiming his third competitive hat-trick of the season so far.
Their Champions League campaign got off to an astonishing start with a 9-2 win over Dynamo Zagreb, but in their second outing they were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa.
Head to head
No team has dealt has as much punishment to FC Barcelona in recent years as the German giants. Since the day in Lisbon that nobody likes to be reminded of, the Catalans and Bavarians have twice shared a first round group, and Bayern won home and away on both occasions, with Barça failing to register a single goal. Another painful memory is the semi-finals of 2012-13, when Bayern won 7-0 on aggregate.
But there have been positive moments too. Very positive, in fact. The year after that loss, the teams once again met in the 2014 semis, and that time Barça won 5-3 on aggregate. And in the quarter finals in 2009, Barça ran out 5-1 winners. And on each occasion, Luis Enrique and Pep Guardiola went on to lead the team to the trophy.
Last five meetings
16/10/22 (UCL) Barça 0-3 Bayern
13/09/22 (UCL) Bayern 2-0 Barça
08/12/21 (UCL) Bayern 3-0 Barça
14/09/21 (UCL) Barça 0-3 Bayern
14/08/20 (UCL) Barça 2-8 Bayern (Lisbon)
The players
Most international caps: Thomas Müller (Germany 131), Manuel Neuer (Germany 124), Harry Kane (England 101), Joshua Kimmich (Germany 95), Kim Min-Jae (South Korea 67), Leroy Sané (Germany 65), Raphaël Guerreiro (Portugal 65), Leon Goretzka (Germany 57), Kingsley Coman (France 57), Alphonso Davies (Canada 56), Eric Dier (England 49), Serge Gnabry (Germany 47), Konrad Laimer (Austria 44), Jamal Musiala (Germany 36), João Palhinha (Portugal 33), Dayot Upamecano (France 27), Josip Stanišić (Croatia 20)
Top goalscorers 2024/25 (all competitions): Harry Kane 13, Michael Olise 6
The boss
After Thomas Tuchel departed at the end of last season, Bayern hired Vincent Kompany in the summer. The Belgian will need little introduction, famed as a player for his performances in midfield for his country and at club level most especially at Manchester City.
He started out in management at Anderlecht, where he had also spent some of his playing days, and then guided Burnley back up into the Premiership, although the season in the English top flight didn't go well at all, and The Clarets immediately dropped back down. He was something of a surprise choice for the Bayern job, but things have been working out well enough so far.