The keys to Bayern Munich's unbeaten start in 2025/26

Bayern Munich have enjoyed a spectacular unbeaten start to the 2025/26 Bundesliga season, as they currently sit six points clear at the top with a +29 goal difference after 10 rounds of fixtures. Enjoying their second-best start to a Bundesliga campaign, what makes Germany's record champions so good right now?

Vincent Kompany's Bayern side are the strongest they’ve been in a long time. Shining as a collective but also through individual brilliance, they are a class apart...

Scintillating attack

A free-scoring attack, Harry Kane and Co. have netted 35 goals after 10 games. Historically, only the Bayern teams of 2021/22 and 2023/24 have bettered the current crop, when they scored 38 goals after 10 matchdays.

Should Bayern continue scoring at their current rate, the Bavarians will finish the season with 119 goals, shattering the single-campaign record of 101 they set in 1972/73.

Luis Díaz and Harry Kane (l-r.) have struck up an excellent understanding. - Alexander Hassenstein

No player has more goal involvements than Kane in the current league season. With 13 of his own, the Englishman is again Bayern’s leading marksman, having finished top scorer in each of his first two seasons in Germany. With a shot efficiency of +6.45 goals, Bayern’s talisman, who also has three assists, has again exhibited his razor-sharp efficiency in front of goal.

The arrival of Luis Díaz has only elevated Bayern’s attacking prowess. Alongside Kane, the duo have been responsible for 54% of Bayern’s goals this season, with the former Liverpool attacker already establishing himself in Kompany’s starting line-up with six goals and four assists in 10 appearances.

Watch: Every Kane goal in the Bundesliga so far

Alongside Michael Olise and Serge Gnabry, the quartet are creating an electrifying frontline. France's Olise was the 2024/25 Rookie of the Season winner and league-wide top assist provider last season (with 15), and is once again proving indispensable. His fearless dribbling often creates a goalscoring opportunity, with no player registering more shots at goal (58) than the 23-year-old, who continues to sparkle.

In a central position behind Kane, Gnabry has reinvented himself in a Jamal Musiala-shaped hole, scoring four goals and providing three assists in nine games.

A force to be reckoned with, Bayern’s attack is one of the most feared in world football.

The likes of Serge Gnabry (c.) and Michael Olise (r.) are laying on goals by the bucketload for Kane. - DANIEL ROLAND

Midfield dictates tempo

Another key to Bayern’s success is at the heart of midfield, where Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka tend to operate.

With 990 touches, no player influences the game more than Kimmich in the current squad, while Goretzka ranks in the top 90th percentile for attempted passes per game, progressive passes and passes completed.

Demanding intensity, Kompany’s midfield are keen runners. Kimmich averages 6.8 miles (11 kilometres) per match, contributing towards Bayern’s 75.8-mile (122km) average per game - a new club record since data collection began in 1992.

And when he or Goretzka drop out of the side, Aleksandar Pavlović - the latter's midfield sidekick for Germany - steps up and delivers. Although only 21, the Bayern academy graduate is in the 99th percentile for those key passing metrics that help make the defending champions tick like clockwork.

Aleksandar Pavlović (r.) is learning from the very best in Joshua Kimmich (l.) and Leon Goretzka. - IMAGO/Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON

Attacks win you games, but defences win titles

Manuel Neuer, who is widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper in history, has only conceded six goals so far this season, with the league leaders boasting the best defensive record. 

Jonathan Tah, who has won 84% of his pressure situations, has cemented himself as a defensive pillar alongside Dayot Upamecano in a side that has allowed just 83 attempts on their goal and only conceded four big chances, putting Bayern top in both categories.

Watch: Jonathan Tah on Bayern's mentality

It’s a remarkable feat for Bayern’s new-look defence following arrival of Tah and a serious injury to Alphonso Davies, which has resulted in a number of players moonlighting at left-back. Averaging 61% possession, it’s a collective effort to starve their opponents of the ball and to keep it away from their own goal.

In addition to the likes of unsung heroes like Konrad Laimer, Kompany has allowed youngsters to shine. Lennart Karl is considered as one of the brightest teenagers in German football, making his Bundesliga debut aged 17 against RB Leipzig on Matchday 1. The dazzling winger assisted Kane on Matchday 3, before opening his account at Borussia Monchengladbach in October. His performances even earned him a call up to Antonio Di Salvo’s Germany U21 squad, where he scored a brace on his debut.

Watch: Karl's October Goal of the Month

Time to shine

Jonas Urbig, who is seen as Neuer’s long-term replacement, deputised for Bayern’s No. 1, against Gladbach, keeping a clean sheet, while midfielder Tom Bischof continues to rack up minutes following his summer switch from Hoffenheim.

Further down the pecking order, Wisdom Mike, David Santos Daiber and Cassiano Kiala are among the teenagers that have been named among the substitutes this season.

Combined, Bayern’s scintillating attack, workhorse midfield, defensive solidity and sprightly up-and-comers have helped form an unbeaten run spanning 19 Bundesliga matches dating back to last season.

In 2025/26 alone, Bayern have won nine of 10 league fixtures. Ominously for the chasing pack, with Freiburg up next at the Allianz Arena and the winter break drawing near, there's been no indication their incredible sequence is going to end any time soon.

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