Eight milestones on the road to Bundesliga title

Eight milestones on the road to Bundesliga title

Bayern ultimately led the way from start to finish in the Bundesliga in 2025/26. They got off to a flying start to cement their position at the summit, but there were still some lows to go with the highs along the way to being crowned champions of Germany for a 35th time. Let’s recap some of those key moments…

Bayern had showed the week before the Bundesliga campaign began that they had recovered from their efforts at the Club World Cup by beating VfB Stuttgart 2-1 to lift the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup. They then backed that up in style by kicking off the 63rd season of Germany’s top flight by smashing RB Leipzig 6-0 in the opening fixture. Luis Díaz scored one, Michael Olise two and Harry Kane three as they announced themselves as a front three to be feared. “When the team gets on a roll, they really get on a roll,” Leon Goretzka said afterwards. Coach Vincent Kompany was equally impressed by his team’s display and dropped a stark warning to the competition when he said: “The foundation was there. The guys worked as if they’ve not won anything. If we keep that up, we’ll win many games.” And he wasn’t wrong…

Bayern’s start to the season was arguably flawless. They won their opening 10 fixtures in all competitions as they went into the campaign’s first Klassiker at home to Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 7. More goals from Kane and Olise earned a 2-1 win over the long-time rivals and also saw Bayern equal BVB’s German record of 11 wins to start a season from 10 years prior. “Credit to the team for winning the first 11 games, but I also want to win the next 11. And then 11 after that,” Kompany demanded afterwards.

It wasn’t 11 but five more wins that Bayern got after that result against Dortmund as they set a new record across Europe’s major leagues. A run of 16 wins to start a season surpassed the previous best of 13 by AC Milan in the 1990s, but the streak had to end at some point. That came on Matchday 10 when Kompany’s side were suddenly on the verge of defeat away at Union Berlin. Díaz had cancelled out the hosts’ early lead with a brilliant goal that went on to win several awards. But Union hit back again to retake the lead in the 83rd minute through Danilho Doekhi.

Amidst all of Bayern’s free-flowing play, they now had to dig deep. “The team showed great mentality, got the late equaliser and showed they didn’t want to lose,” sporting director Christoph Freund stated after Kane had snatched a draw in added time at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. “It’s a point gained when you look at the game,” Freund added. It was true, given those below in the table also slipped up, allowing Bayern to go six points clear despite failing to win for the first time.

Bayern had made top spot their own prior to the winter break, in fact leading the way in the Bundesliga for a record 47 consecutive matchdays. The previous best of 43 was surpassed in November with a come-from-behind 6-2 win over Freiburg. Given the six-point advantage as the Bundesliga resumed for 2026, you could’ve been forgiven for Kompany’s team easing their way back into action at home to Wolfsburg. Not a chance. An 8-1 thrashing of the Wolves was Bayern’s biggest win of the season and made clear to all rivals that this team means business. The wing duo of Díaz (one goal, two assists) and Olise (two goals, one assist) tore Wolfsburg apart in a manner we’ve become accustomed to seeing this season. “It’s moments like these where it’s already 5-1, 6-1 or 7-1 but we just keep going, keep pressing and try to score more goals. I really like that,” Kompany enthused.

“We’ve made a statement with this win. And that’s good after some people thought we were in a bit of a small crisis after our last two games,” was the summary by CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen after the 5-1 win over Hoffenheim on Matchday 21. It had seemed like the team’s packed January schedule of seven games in 21 games had caught up with them somewhat, resulting in them taking just a single point from the month’s final two league fixtures. An 11-point lead at the summit had shrunk to six and given rivals a sniff of a chance. But after a full week to recover, Kompany’s man roared back into form. An early red card for Kevin Akpoguma perhaps aided things, but it can’t take away from the sublime display from hat-trick hero Díaz against the team sitting third in the table. “The points we’d dropped recently hurt, especially because we’d created such a big gap. But a season is long. There are always ups and downs. That’s why we go into every game with full commitment. And when we win our games, things look good for us in the end,” said Serge Gnabry.

Bayern’s trip to Dortmund at the end of February once again drew the attention of the world as Germany’s top two faced off. The hosts were yet to lose at home. Would they cut the gap to five points? Or would Bayern continue their unbeaten away run and pull further clear? It was a top-of-the-table clash that lived up to the billing. Many viewed the second half as some of the best action of the entire season. “That was a good advert for the Bundesliga, with intensity, goals and above all great desire from both teams to keep getting forward and want to win the game,” Kompany claimed afterwards. Borussia took a half-time lead, but Kane hit back with a brace in the second half to turn things around. However, the hosts struck back themselves to level again. The game looked like finishing in a draw until Joshua Kimmich had the final word as he volleyed home a clearance with his left foot. Bayern had won 3-2 and Kimmich believed that his goal had given the defending champions a commanding advantage in the title race: “We won’t give it away 11 points clear. Nobody’s ever squandered that and it won’t happen.”

Bayern’s 1-1 draw in Leverkusen in mid-March had showed their battling spirit once more as they earned a point with just nine men. That resilience came to the fore again in Freiburg as Kompany’s men found themselves 2-0 down in the closing minutes. Tom Bischof then found the perfect time for his first Bayern goal and then immediately grabbed a second to level the game in the 92nd minute. But things weren’t done there as the Bavarians pushed for an unexpected victory and got it in the ninth minute of added time when Lennart Karl struck the winner. “We wouldn’t be Bayern if we didn’t always believe in ourselves. There was also a bit of luck, but we really went for it after getting back to 2-2. It was amazing,” said Bischof after his double. The value of that result in Freiburg became even more evident a few hours later as Dortmund hit two late goals of their own to win in Stuttgart and keep the gap at nine points.

Dortmund couldn’t keep up the pace with Bayern all the way, though. The advantage grew to 12 points on Matchday 12 after FCB’s commanding 5-0 win at St. Pauli and BVB’s loss at home to Leverkusen. The challengers slipped up again the following week for just their fourth defeat of the campaign as they went down 2-1 at Hoffenheim. It presented Bayern with their first opportunity to secure the title at home to VfB Stuttgart on the Sunday. Just four days on from the celebrations of beating Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, the party continued at the Allianz Arena with a 4-2 victory that opened up an unassailable lead with four games to spare. “It wasn’t a given that we’d perform like this against the team third in the table after our games against Madrid,” said a delighted Kimmich after the deal was sealed.

Here’s our report from the decisive game against Stuttgart:

Bayern beat Stuttgart to win Bundesliga title!