Spotlight on... Bayern Munich

We move onto matchday two of our Champions League campaign on Tuesday as we welcome Bayern Munich to our new home.

We most recently came up against Bayern in pre-season during the summer, as we defeated the German side in the Audi Cup final, winning on 6-5 on penalties having sealed a 2-2 draw in normal time.

So ahead of their visit to north London, we put the Bavarians under the spotlight…

Team news

Leon Goretzka and Jan-Fiete Arp remain unavailable for Bayern ahead of their trip to London.

Defender Lucas Hernandez (knee) and midfielder Ivan Perisic (flu) meanwhile have been involved in the German side’s travelling squad after they passed fitness tests.

Bayern’s form

Currently sitting at the top of the Bundesliga table, Niko Kovac’s side remain unbeaten in all competitions this season.

Picking up their fourth league win of the season on Saturday as they travelled to top-flight new boys Paderborn (3-2), the triumph at the Benteler-Arena sent the Munich-based outfit to the summit of the table for the first time this season with Robert Lewandowski scoring his 10^th of the season after just six games – a Bundesliga record.

In the Champions League, Bayern kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 home win over Crvena zvezda which also sent them to the top of our European group with one game played.

One to watch

As previously mentioned, Robert Lewandowski has enjoyed a record-breaking start to the Bundesliga season with 10 goals in six outings, but his form in all competitions has been just as impressive with 12 goals in nine games.

His fierce strike-rate in front of goal this campaign is not an anomaly for the Polish forward either as, in all but one of his five full seasons in Munich, he has managed at least 40 goals.

The one year he didn’t manage to breach the 40-goal mark was in his first campaign with the club, yet he still managed a very respectable 25. In each season in Bavaria he has won the league title, while he finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer in three of those campaigns.

Leader of the opposition

Former Croatian international and Bayern Munich midfielder Niko Kovac returned to his former club in the summer of 2018 to take over the reins at the Allianz Arena.

He began his coaching career in the youth academy at his former side Red Bull Salzburg, prior to be being placed in charge of the Croatian national team before he took over at Eintracht Frankfurt in March, 2016. With Die Adler, he led them to the DFB-Pokal (German cup) which ensured they qualified for the Europa League for the first time in four years.

Ahead of that European campaign, though, Kovac was appointed as manager of Bayern Munich. In his first season in Bavaria he secured a trio of trophies with the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup all collected.

Previous competitive meetings

7 December, 1983 – Spurs 2-0 Bayern Munich – UEFA Cup third round, second leg
23 November, 1983 – Bayern Munich 1-0 Spurs – UEFA Cup third round, first leg
3 November, 1982 – Bayern Munich 4-1 Spurs – European Cup Winners’ Cup second round, second leg
20 October, 1982 – Spurs 1-1 Bayern Munich – European Cup Winners’ Cup second round, first leg

The numbers game

0 – Having faced us twice in competitive fixtures in north London, Bayern have failed to win on both occasions, but did triumph in both of the return legs in Bavaria.

4 – We have won our last four Champions League games against German opponents (all coming against Borussia Dortmund).

8 – We have won eight of our last 11 Champions League home games and have kept a clean sheet in three of our last four.

9 - Bayern Munich are unbeaten in their last nine Champions League away games, winning six of those.

23 – We have found the back of the net in 23 of our 25 Champions League group stage games, only failing to score in both the home and away games against Bayer Leverkusen in 2016/17.

Played for both

A club legend and cult hero at the Lane for both for his personality as well as his performances in a Spurs shirt, Jurgen Klinsmann was adored by supporters over his two spells with us. A World Cup winner in 1990 with Germany, Jurgen arrived in north London four years later and made an instant impact on the English game.

Infamously criticised in the national press for play-acting following his antics in the Italia '90 triumph, the forward responded to the media comments on his Spurs debut by celebrating his first goal for the Club in a 4-3 win over Sheffield Wednesday with a mock dive across the turf. Part of our ‘Famous Five’ – Teddy Sheringham, Darren Anderton, Nick Barmby and Ilie Dumitrescu included – the quintet scored goals for fun and the German’s quality shone in that side, especially with his acrobatic finishes and fierce volleys.

He departed after just one season to join Bayern Munich but rejoined us three years later on loan and saved us from relegation with nine goals in 15 games. He has since gone on to manage Bayern Munich in the 2008/09 season and was back in N17 recently as he appeared in our Legends' meeting with Inter Forever in March, 2019 - one of two test events at our new home.

Pictures from the past