© Imago
FC Bayern, at the top of the table, currently have a 16-point cushion to 1. FC Union Berlin in tenth place. In Berlin's Wulheide district, however, the record champions will face a hugely strong home team who have lost just one game at the Alte Försterei this season. Union could also be awkward in other respects, as the Berliners are an incredibly physical side who will do everything they can to deny FC Bayern their 17th consecutive competitive win. Check out our facts to find out what else makes the clash on Saturday (15.30 CET) a dangerous one for FCB.
Will FCB win a 17th consecutive competitive match?
FC Bayern are also currently the benchmark in defence. | © Imago
FC Bayern's phenomenal 2-1 win at reigning Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain saw Vincent Kompany's side continue their flawless season without dropping a point across all competitions. It goes without saying that FC Bayern will also be the benchmark in the Bundesliga when they face Union Berlin on Saturday afternoon. Here, too, a mere glance at the table or the stats would seem to suggest another Bayern victory is inevitable: The Munich men haven't lost a single one of their Bundesliga clashes against Union so far and have come away with eight wins and four draws. No other club in Bundesliga history has faced an opponent so often without suffering a single defeat.
Will Bayern break Pep's in-house record?
With a win at the Alte Försterei, FC Bayern would also break an in-house record the team themselves set in 2015/16 under coach Pep Guardiola: just one more three-pointer is needed to reach ten consecutive Bundesliga wins at the start of the season. And the team are chasing another positive success under Vincent Kompany: FC Bayern have scored at least two goals in each of their last 17 league games. In Bundesliga history, only Bayern themselves have achieved that once before, when they scored two goals in 20 games in 2013/14. But beware: The last time Bayern scored fewer than two goals was in March 2025 - against Union Berlin (1-1).
A cupboard full of clean sheets
A lot of possession vs. little possession: Michael Olise takes on a whole host of Union defenders. | © Imago
But FCB are also formidable in defence: they're the only team in Europe's top five leagues not to have conceded a goal in the first 45 minutes of a league match. In the first ten games of the season, only two teams in the history of the league have managed to achieve that: VfB Stuttgart (2023/24) and Bayern themselves in 1972/73 - back then it was actually 11 games in a row. What's more, Bayern have scored at least three times in each of their last eight league games on the road - no team in the top flight has previously ever recorded such a long scoring streak away from home!
And at the same time, they've allowed the opposition very few opportunities at the back: Six clean sheets after nine Bundesliga games is Bayern's best tally in 11 years. In 2014/15 they actually managed seven - and, in fact, only in 2011/12 (eight) and 2014/15 (seven) did FCB record more clean sheets after nine games than at present.
62:4 attacks in direct comparison in the league
Another stat suggests that FC Bayern are likely to dominate the encounter with Union: The record champions rank first in the possession table with 64 per cent. At the bottom sit Union Berlin with just 33 per cent - only Darmstadt 98 recorded less possession in a Bundesliga season, recording 32 per cent in 2015/16. It's also first vs. last in terms of passes completed (671:279), passing accuracy (90:70) and attacks launched (62:4).
Moreover, Union's goal-scoring record so far this term has been poor: four of their matches have ended in goalless draws, with two of them actually coming at home against HSV and Freiburg. However, coach Steffen Baumgart's side have also conceded very few goals: in the last three Bundesliga matches, the visitors have only managed to score once at the Alte Försterei. Starting with the 1-1 draw against FC Bayern in mid-March, Union have lost just two of their last ten home games in the league and could not be beaten in the last three.
Dominant Bayern
Union Berlin and FC Bayern drew 1-1 in their last encounter at the Alte Försterei. | © Imago
In the last away game at Union, Bayern enjoyed 80 per cent possession - under Vincent Kompany they've only had more possession (83 per cent) away from home once in the Bundesliga - in the 3-0 win at Mönchengladbach in their last away game, when they also played 71 minutes with a one-man advantage.
Union will also be weakened through captain Christopher Trimmel's suspension after he picked up a fifth yellow card: only RB Leipzig's David Raum (26) has bettered his 22 lay-offs in the league this season. Another omen that does not bode well for the Berliners: last season, Union won just one of the eight Bundesliga games in which Trimmel didn't play: 0.5 points per game without the captain compared to 1.4 points per game with their talisman.
Take a closer look at Die Eisernen:
Topics of this article