Bayern set to better 30-year-old record

berlin — Bayern Munich can claim their second milestone of the week on Saturday at home to Augsburg with the Bundesliga’s 30-year-old record for the longest unbeaten run set to fall.

The European champions can claim a new record of 37 matches if they win or draw at home to Bavarian neighbours Augsburg, who are 13th in the league, at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

“You don’t start playing football to break records but once the opportunity is there, you’re obviously going to try and take it,” said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.

“We’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to this point and if you look at the history of the Bundesliga, going so many games without losing is something that just doesn’t really happen.”

Bayern matched Hamburg’s record of 36 matches without defeat, set in January 1983, when they won 2-1 at Hoffenheim last Saturday.

But while Hamburg won 20 of their 36 games, Bayern have claimed 30 victories in the same number of matches scoring 95 goals to Hamburg’s 88 and leaking just 21, compared to Hamburg’s 38.

Augsburg won just one of their last five league games when they beat Mainz last weekend and it would take a shock result to spoil Bayern’s party. Should a new record be set, it will be as much down to ex-Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who handed over a 25-match unbeaten run to his successor Pep Guardiola.

Bayern were last beaten in October 2012 at Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg are not expected to put up much resistance.

Bayern’s first landmark this week was when they equalled Barcelona’s record from the 2002/03 season of nine consecutive Champions League wins when they beat Viktoria Pilsen 1-0 on Tuesday to confirm their place in the knockout phase.

“It seems that it’s a season when every record can be challenged or beaten,” beamed Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who was an active player when Hamburg set the 30-year-old record. —