Jupp Heynckes World Manager of the Year 2013

Completing an FCB clean sweep of the annual International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) awards, the organisation has named Jupp Heynckes the world’s best club coach. Friday’s announcement hardly came as a surprise but it naturally remains a great honour for the club and the treble-winning supremo. The former Bayern boss topped the ranking on 216 points, easily beating off Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp (101 points) and Diego Simeone of Atletico Madrid (61). The award has been dominated for the last few years by Pep Guardiola, who came fifth in the latest edition, José Mourinho and Alex Ferguson. Senior journalists and experts from 70 countries took part in the vote.

Bayern Top IFFHS Club World Ranking

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) voted Manuel Neuer the World's Best Goalkeeper on 6 January – and now Bayern Munich have won the accolade as the top club in the world. Bayern head the Club World Ranking 2013, which the IFFHS has compiled annually since 1991, based on all club results in competitive competitions. A German side holds top spot for the first time ever – and by a substantial margin, as second-placed Real Madrid are 80 points behind FCB. The third to fifth positions are occupied by Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. 370 points has only been achieved once before in the last 22 years when Juventus clocked up 372 points in 1993.

Bayern Start 2014 on Winning Note

The New Year has begun as the old one ended with a win for club world champions Bayern. As part of their mid-season training camp in Doha the Reds played their first friendly of 2014 on Thursday evening against Omdurman-based Al-Merrikh SC, the reigning Sudanese champions. After 90 one-sided minutes the Bundesliga giants defeated their stubborn opponents 2–0 courtesy of a 35th-minute opener from youngster Julian Green and a second-half Claudio Pizarro strike on 53 minutes.

The 6,543 crowd at the home ground used by Al-Sadd, whose biggest name player is former Real stalwart Raul, saw a total of 21 Bayern stars in action after Pep Guardiola swapped out all his outfield players at half-time. Only keeper Tom Starke covered the full 90 minutes. The world’s best goalkeeper Manuel Neuer remained on the bench, with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben and Holger Badstuber not in the squad as they continue sports rehab programmes.

The fact the Reds have been training hard for the last few days and completed a punishing workout in the morning was obvious from the start. A few legs were understandably heavy and Munich were never likely to ignite any attacking fireworks. FCB still dominated the game at will and pieced together a number of flowing moves. One of these led to Green’s 35th-minute opener when the German-American reserve striker latched onto a Mario Götze through ball and fired home from 12 yards. Xherdan Shaqiri, central striker for the day Franck Ribéry, Green again and Götze came closest to adding further goals.

The Munich line-up for the second period included reserve hopefuls Ylli Sallahi and Alessandro Schöpf, who played their part as the UEFA Champions League winners sought to break down the defensive Sudanese champions. Pizarro netted the second with a shot on the turn eight minutes after the restart following a skilful headed knockdown by Mario Mandzukic, who was poised to add a third just two minutes later only for Al-Merrikh’s outstanding keeper Akram El Hadi Salim to make a good save. FCB declined to put away a number of good openings after that as the score remained 2–0 through to the close.

Robert Lewandowski signs for Bayern

Munich, 4 January 2014: FC Bayern have confirmed the signing of 25-year-old  Poland international Robert Lewandowski. The striker, who will see out the remainder of his contract with Borussia Dortmund until the end of the season, will join Germany’s most successful club on 1 July 2014.

Following the obligatory pre-transfer medical in Munich, Lewandowski signed a five-year contract keeping him at FCB until 30 June 2019. The club was represented by chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and board director for sport Matthias Sammer, with the player represented by his agents Cezary Kucharski and Maik Barthel.

“We’re very pleased about completing this transfer,” commented FC Bayern Munich AG chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “Robert Lewandowski is one of the best strikers in the world. He will strengthen the Bayern squad and give us another boost. We’re delighted both parties have today signed a five-year contract until 2019.”

Bayern's Year in Facts and Figures

The year 2013 goes down as truly historic for Bayern, as the Reds collected an incredible five trophies and set a host of new records. fcbayern.de reviews the facts and figures from the most successful 12 months in the club’s history.

0 - The number of times Bayern lost in the Bundesliga in the calendar year - a feat that has never been achieved before!

1 - Bayern’s position in the standings on 27 of the 34 Bundesliga matchdays in 2013. FCB were only not top for the first seven games of the current campaign.

3 - Defeats in all competitions throughout the year, meaning Munich were undefeated in 95 percent of their matches.

5 - The number of trophies collected by Bayern in 2013: the Champions League, Bundesliga, DFB Cup, UEFA Super Cup and most recently the FIFA Club World Cup. The tally is bettered only by Barcelona, who won six trophies in 2009 under Pep Guardiola.

10 - Bayern’s record-breaking winning run in the Champions League up to and including the victory away to CSKA Moscow in November. The previous record of nine straight wins in Europe’s elite club competition was set by Barcelona in 2002/03.

14 - The number of consecutive victories posted by Bayern at the start of the second half of the season in 2012/13. That broke two records at once, as no Bundesliga side had ever managed 14 straight victories before!

16 - The number of Bundesliga matches without defeat presided over by Pep Guardiola – also a new record! The previous record of 14 was set by Kaiserslautern’s Karl-Heinz Feldkamp in 1978/79.

17 - Bayern won all 17 of their home league fixtures in the calendar year, matching their own record from 1972 and 2005.

18 - The number of goals conceded by Bayern in the 2012/13 Bundesliga season, the best defensive performance in the history of the league!

19 - The number of times FCB have been top of Bundesliga at the midpoint of the season. In 16 of the previous 18 cases the championship shield ended up in Munich.

20 - Franck Ribéry’s assists in 2013, making the Frenchman the best provider at the club. He was followed by Arjen Robben (18), Thomas Müller and Philipp Lahm (17 each).

25 - The winning margin in points at the end of the 2012/13 campaign between champions Bayern and runners-up Borussia Dortmund, the biggest-ever gap between two adjacent teams in the final standings.

26 - The club’s top marksman Thomas Müller’s goalscoring total in 2013! He was followed by Mario Mandzukic (23) and Arjen Robben (22).

28 - The number of matches FCB required before sealing the league title in April away to Frankfurt. The Bundesliga has never before been won at such an early stage!

41 - Bayern’s current unbeaten run in the Bundesliga, comfortably a new record! The best previous performance of 36 games undefeated was set by Hamburg from January 1982 until January 1983.

43 - Thomas Müller’s scorer points total for the year (26 goals, 17 assists). He was followed by Arjen Robben (40) and Franck Ribéry (38).

44 - Bayern’s points total from 16 Bundesliga fixtures in 2013/14 - a new league record!

50 - Games won by Lahm, Schweinsteiger & Co. in 2013, meaning FCB won just short of nine of every 10 matches they played.

53 - The number of consecutive league matches in which FCB have scored at least once, beating the club’s own record of 36 from May 1973 until May 1974.

56 - Number of matches played by FCB in 2013 in a total of six competitions: the Bundesliga, Champions League, DFB Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and DFL Super Cup.

80 - Or to be more precise: +80. Bayern’s goal difference at the end of the 2012/13 Bundesliga campaign, easily a new league record!

93 - Total number of Bundesliga points taken by Bayern from 33 matches in the calendar year, a new record! The Reds only dropped a total of six points in 2013. The previous record of 87 points from 34 matches in 2005 was also set by the Reds.

159 - Total goals scored by FCB in 2013, an average of 2.8 per match.

207 - The number of countries in which the Bundesliga meeting between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern on 23 November was broadcast live, a new record for the German top flight.

250 - Number of accredited media representatives at the unveiling of Pep Guardiola as new Bayern coach on 24 June at the Allianz Arena, making the event the biggest press conference in the club’s history. Two days later, 180 reporters watched the new boss supervise his first training session.

2,018,500 - The total attendance at the Allianz Arena for the 29 home games (including the Audi Cup and the Uli Hoeneß Cup) in the year 2013. The average crowd was 69,603 with only two matches not entirely sold out.

The Historic Year 2013

The Historic Year 2013

Das Rekordjahr 2013

Bundesliga, Champions League, DFB Pokal, Super Cup

Jan Kirchhoff joins Shalke on Loan

FC Bayern Munich and FC Schalke 04 have agreed a one-and-a-half year loan deal for defender Jan Kirchhoff, who will now play for the Gelsenkirchen club until 30 June 2015. Bayern have retained a recall option for the player after the loan agreement expires. 

“I think this is a good decision for all three parties,” commented FC Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “Jan will certainly receive the playing time with Schalke that hasn’t proved possible in Munich up to now. We wish him all the very best and hope he continues to make good progress there, so that he might potentially return to FC Bayern in 2015.“