Bayern Munich

Germany · one of the six clubs in the Easy pool

Bayern were not even in the Bundesliga when it began in 1963. Within a decade they were champions of Europe, and they have been the dominant club in German football ever since. Two trebles, in 2013 and 2020, make them one of only two clubs to have won it twice.

The story in brief

The 1960s and 1970s: the first great side

Bayern were promoted to the Bundesliga in 1965 with three young players who would define the club: goalkeeper Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer and the striker Gerd Müller. They won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967, the Bundesliga in 1969, and then three titles in a row from 1972 to 1974. Müller's 40 league goals in 1971–72 stood as the Bundesliga record for almost half a century.

The peak came in Europe: three consecutive European Cups, in 1974 (against Atlético Madrid, after a replay), 1975 (against Leeds United) and 1976 (against Saint-Étienne). Six Bayern players — Maier, Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner, Georg Schwarzenbeck, Uli Hoeneß and Müller — also won the 1974 World Cup with West Germany.

The 1980s and 1990s: champions at home

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Ballon d'Or winner in 1980 and 1981, led the next generation. Bayern kept winning the Bundesliga but lost European Cup finals to Aston Villa in 1982 and Porto in 1987. The 1990s were more uneven, though Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann and a young Oliver Kahn brought the UEFA Cup in 1996, and the decade ended with the 1999 Champions League final lost in stoppage time to Manchester United.

2001 to now: back on top of Europe

Kahn's three saves in the shoot-out against Valencia won the 2001 Champions League. The modern Bayern took shape around 2010 with Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry, then Manuel Neuer and Robert Lewandowski. They won the treble in 2013 under Jupp Heynckes and again in 2020 under Hansi Flick, and won eleven Bundesliga titles in a row between 2013 and 2023. Harry Kane arrived in 2023, and the title came back to Munich in 2025 after Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten season interrupted the run.

Bayern in Treble Winner

Bayern are one of the six clubs in the Easy pool, so they come up on every difficulty. Easy only spins the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s; Normal adds the 1980s and 2020s; the 1960s and 1970s appear only on Hard.

Bayern Munich in the game's pool, decade by decade.
Decade	Players	Best-XI rating	Rank	First on	Highest rated in the game
1960s	76	77.4	59	Hard	Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer
1970s	87	82.3	7	Hard	Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1980s	90	78.2	45	Normal	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Klaus Augenthaler, Sepp Maier
1990s	119	77.1	61	Easy	Lothar Matthaus, Oliver Kahn, Jürgen Klinsmann
2000s	126	81.2	12	Easy	Oliver Kahn, Mario Gómez, Michael Ballack
2010s	105	85.4	1	Easy	Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben
2020s	63	79.0	31	Normal	Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski, Joshua Kimmich

In the game's ratings the 2010s side is not only Bayern's best decade but among the very strongest cells anywhere in the game, with Neuer, Lewandowski and Robben at its top. The 1970s are close behind — Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller live there — but you can only reach them on Hard. The 1990s, the decade between the great sides, are the thinnest.

Drafting tips

Take the goalkeeper. Maier, Kahn and Neuer between them cover most of Bayern's decades. If your goal is still empty when the reels stop on Bayern, it is rarely a wasted pick.
The 2010s are a spine in themselves. Lahm and David Alaba could play in more than one position, which makes it easier to take two or three players from that cell for the club-spine bonus without running out of shirts.
Watch for players in two decades. Careers that crossed the turn of a decade — Thomas Müller, Lewandowski, Matthäus — appear in more than one Bayern cell.