Bayern Munich vs Union Berlin Preview: 15 Meetings Without a Union Win, Kane’s Record Year, and Lustrinelli Still Chasing His First
Two clubs going in opposite directions meet in Munich on Friday night. Bayern are fourth after three rounds and unbeaten in five matches across all competitions, with Harry Kane putting together the most productive calendar year of anyone in Europe’s top five leagues. Union Berlin are sixteenth, still without a win under new head coach Mauro Lustrinelli, and travelling to a ground where they have never won and rarely kept a clean sheet. This is the last Bundesliga fixture before the international break, which makes it a strange sort of deadline for both dugouts.
How the Season Has Gone So Far
Bayern’s league campaign has been effective rather than flashy. They opened with a 5-1 win at home to VfB Stuttgart on 28 August, were then held 0-0 away at Schalke 04 on 5 September, and won 2-1 at newly promoted SV Elversberg on 13 September. Sandwiched between those was a 5-0 Champions League win over Bodø/Glimt on 10 September, in which Jamal Musiala broke the deadlock shortly after half-time, Kane headed in from a Michael Olise cross, Alphonso Davies added a third and Olise finished it with two more.
Union’s three rounds have been brutal. They drew 3-3 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on 29 August in Lustrinelli’s first league match in charge, then lost 4-0 away at Bayer Leverkusen on 5 September and 1-3 at home to Schalke on 11 September. In that Schalke game Union pulled one back through Tim Skarke six minutes into stoppage time, assisted by Tom Rothe, before conceding again in the thirteenth added minute — the sort of sequence that sums up a defence which has shipped ten goals in three matches.
Head-to-Head: Five Meetings, and a Record That Has Never Moved
| Date | Competition | Result | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Mar 2026 | Bundesliga | Bayern 4-0 Union | Bayern |
| 3 Dec 2025 | DFB Pokal | Union 2-3 Bayern | Bayern |
| 8 Nov 2025 | Bundesliga | Union 2-2 Bayern | Draw |
| 15 Mar 2025 | Bundesliga | Union 1-1 Bayern | Draw |
| 2 Nov 2024 | Bundesliga | Bayern 3-0 Union | Bayern |
Union Berlin have never beaten Bayern Munich. FotMob and last5games both record 15 competitive meetings: 10 Bayern wins, 5 draws, 0 Union wins, with 38 goals scored and 12 conceded. Some databases count 14 meetings rather than 15, but every source agrees on the headline — no Union victory, and five draws is the best they have managed. Bayern have also won six of the seven meetings played at the Allianz Arena, drawing the other.
Four Things to Watch
1. Kane is having the best year of anyone in Europe’s top five leagues
Per the Bundesliga’s own figures, Kane has 39 goal involvements in 2026 — 34 goals and five assists — more than any other player across the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Olise is not far behind on 32 (15 goals, 17 assists). Kane also scored in his eighth consecutive Champions League match against Bodø/Glimt, so he arrives in form rather than needing to find it.
2. Union have kept one clean sheet in twelve matches
That is the number that shapes this fixture. A 4-0 defeat at Leverkusen and a 1-3 home loss to Schalke in the space of a week is not the preparation you want for the trip to Munich, and the squad list is thin at the back too — FotMob lists Josip Juranović, Marvin Friedrich, Stanley N’Soki and Andrik Markgraf among those unavailable. The one mitigating stat: Union have scored in four of their last seven visits to the Allianz Arena, so a shut-out is not automatic.
3. Tom Rothe against Michael Olise is the duel worth watching
Rothe is 21, plays left back, and is being talked about for a Germany call-up in this international window. He set up Skarke’s stoppage-time goal against Schalke and is one of the few Union players whose stock is rising rather than falling. On Friday he is likely to see plenty of Olise, who has 17 assists in 2026 and does most of his damage from the right before cutting inside. If Rothe copes, Union have a platform. If he does not, the right flank becomes the whole match.
4. Lustrinelli needs a result, and the fixture list is not helping
The Swiss coach arrived from Thun having won the Swiss league with them last season, and took over a Union side that finished eleventh. He has talked about process and progression rather than points, describing each match as a test of where the squad currently stands — a reasonable framing in September, less comfortable when your next assignment is the Allianz Arena. This is also the last game before the international break, so a bad night here sits with the squad for two weeks.
Predicted Lineups
Neither club had named a starting eleven at the time of writing. The selections below follow projected line-ups published by FotMob and by Bavarian Football Works, which expect Manuel Neuer, Konrad Laimer, Jonathan Tah, Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich and Luis Díaz to come into the Bayern side. One statistics site lists no absentees at all for either squad, so treat the whole of this as provisional.
Bayern Munich
- Neuer
- Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Davies
- Kimmich, Pavlović
- Olise, Musiala, Luis Díaz
- Kane
Doubts: Serge Gnabry (adductor). Also listed as out: Tarek Buchmann (knee), Lennart Karl (thigh), Bryan Zaragoza (knee).
Union Berlin
- Rønnow
- Trimmel, Querfeld, Uduokhai, Rothe
- Khedira, Kemlein
- Jeong, Aebischer, Burcu
- Skarke
Listed as unavailable: Juranović, Andrej Ilić, Kastriot Imeri, Markgraf, Friedrich, N’Soki and Oliver Burke. One database also flags Rønnow with a muscle problem, though FotMob’s projected side still starts him — sources disagree. Emmanuel Latte Lath is the alternative to Skarke up front.
Key Battle: Olise Against Rothe
Bayern’s attacking structure puts Olise high and wide on the right and asks him to arrive in the half-space, which is exactly where Union’s 4-2-3-1 is thinnest — their two holding midfielders have to cover both the width and the lane inside. Rothe’s recovery pace is his best asset and he has spent the season being asked to defend one-on-one, but with Khedira and Kemlein screening, he will often be alone against the player with the most assists in this Bayern squad. Kompany has the opposite option too: Luis Díaz on the left against Trimmel, a 38-year-old being asked to play a full match in Munich. Whichever flank Bayern choose to attack, Union’s full-backs are the pressure point.
Kit Note: Red in Munich, Red and White in Berlin
Bayern’s 2026/27 range is one of the deepest we carry: home, away and goalkeeper shirts for the current campaign alongside a player-edition home and a long-sleeve home for the colder months, plus kids and womens cuts. Union Berlin are stocked in smaller numbers but with the right pieces — the current home shirt and last season’s away. Everything below is live in the shop and priced the same across every size, so browse the rails.
Bayern Munich 2026/27 — home, away, player edition, long sleeve, goalkeeper, kids and womens
Swipe to browse 7 Bayern shirts
Union Berlin — current home shirt and last season's away
Swipe to browse 2 Union Berlin shirts
