Alassane Plea (r.) and Borussia Mönchengladbach have had a habit of getting the better of Bayern Munich and Manuel Neuer. - © Alexander Scheuber/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images

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Borussia Mönchengladbach's 5 best wins over Bayern Munich

15.01.2024

There have been some humdinger meetings between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayern Munich down the years, with the Foals boasting an unrivalled recent record against the serial champions. Ahead of their 112th Bundesliga encounter this weekend in Munich, we look back on five of the best that went in Gladbach's favour...

Gladbach 2-1 Bayern (Matchday 2, 1969/70)

The sides had met eight times prior to their showdown on week two of the 1969/70 campaign, with Bayern winning all five of those first fixtures. Gladbach had begun to turn the tide with three successive draws, and they went one better at the Bökelbergstadion on 23 August 1969.

It looked as if Bayern would cruise to another victory over BMG when August Starek opened the scoring after just 11 minutes, but Gladbach rallied to claim their first ever win over the Bavarians. Werner Kaiser equalised just after the break before Herbert Laumen headed home the winner with 20 minutes to play. It would set the tone for the remainder of the campaign as Gladbach beat Bayern to the title - the first in the Foals' history.

The moment Gladbach became Bayern's bogey team? Herbert Laumen (back) celebrates his winner in 1969. - imago sportfotodienst/imago/WEREK

Gladbach 5-0 Bayern (Matchday 34, 1973/74)

Going into the final day of the 1973/74 season, Bayern were already champions and had a three-point advantage over Gladbach in second place – this was back in the days when a league win would bring you just two points. Gladbach finished the season just one adrift of Bayern thanks to a statement victory over their rivals. The legendary Jupp Heynckes scored the first and fourth of five goals, with Allan Simonsen, Rainer Bonhof and Lorenz-Günther Köstner also on target for the hosts. Admittedly, Bayern's players were somewhat tired (and hungover) after winning the European Cup only the day before. But Borussia will tell you that they all count...

Coach Hennes Weisweiler, who oversaw the first back-to-back title triumphs of 1969/70 and 1970/71 would lead his time to the Meisterschale the following campaign, sparking a three-year spell for Gladbach as the dominant force in Germany's top-flight. Looking back at it now, this victory was arguably the catalyst for that trio of successive titles.

A legend in the making: Jupp Heynckes scores one of his two goals against Bayern on the final day of the 1973/74 season. - IMAGO / Horstmüller

Bayern 0-1 Gladbach (Matchday 1, 2011/12)

Having seamlessly moved from Gladbach player to coach after hanging up his boots, Heynckes went on to cross the divide by taking up the Bayern reins on four different occasions. As fate would have it, the third of which saw him start the Bundesliga season against his old club in a match that also saw Manuel Neuer make his Bayern debut.

It turned out to be a miserable day for Heynckes, Neuer and the entire Bayern contingent as Igor de Camargo nodded over the future Hall of Fame goalkeeper to hand Gladbach a 1-0 win - one of only five away to Bayern in their history. And, five months later, Marco Reus and Patrick Herrmann were on target as the Foals completed an impressive double. With Borussia Dortmund also taking six points from Bayern that year, they remain the last two teams to beat the record champions home and away in a single season.

Watch: Neuer's moments to forget against Gladbach

Gladbach 3-2 Bayern (Matchday 15, 2020/21)

When first Robert Lewandowski and then Leon Goretzka provided a rapid-fire one-two inside half an hour at the Borussia-Park, it appeared Gladbach would be in for a long day. The manner of their early concessions backed up the theory as Florian Neuhaus clumsily gave away a handball for Lewandowski to convert from 12-yards before a retreating defensive line gave Goretzka all the time in the world to line up his hammer blow from the edge of the box.

Most teams would have crumbled against a rampant Bayern at that point, but Gladbach roared back into the contest. Lars Stindl twice freed Jonas Hofmann with defence-splitting through balls that allowed the latter to apply accomplished finishes beyond Neuer and level things up by half-time. Just four minutes after the break, Hofmann turned provider as Neuhaus made up for his earlier error and sealed a famous come-from-behind victory.

Watch: Highlights of Gladbach's victory

Gladbach 5-0 Bayern (DFB Cup second round, 2021/22)

Where Bayern were unable to ram home their early advantage the season before, Gladbach showed them how it was done as Adi Hütter's men blew Julian Nagelsmann's side away in a manner very few have been able to down the years.

Manu Kone got the ball rolling inside just two minutes and, from the moment the 21-year-old swept home, a shell-shocked Bayern were reeling. Ramy Bensebaini then struck a six-minute brace to send the home fans delirious with their team 3-0 up inside just 21 minutes.

Gladbach were unrelenting in the second-period, with Breel Embolo - who set up Kone's first and won the penalty for Bensebaini to make it 3-0 - adding a double of his own.

Not only was it the first time that Bayern failed to score in 85 competitive games, it inflicted the 20-time cup winners' heaviest-ever defeat in the competition. Cue the photographers in attendance grabbing a snap of the scorecard in pictures only ever afforded such disbelieving final results.