Bayern’s first half breaks the usual measures of dominance

January 19, 2026 Oliver Obel

Halfway through the Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich are not just setting the pace they are stretching the league’s sense of scale. Records have been matched, others are already under pressure, and Vincent Kompany’s first campaign in charge is beginning to look historically significant.

The most striking number is simple enough. Bayern’s 3-1 win over Cologne moved them to 47 points after 17 matches, a total that matches the Bundesliga’s best-ever return at the halfway point. According to BBC Sport, only Pep Guardiola’s Bayern side in 2013-14 had previously reached that mark.

Where this team diverges from its predecessors is in the manner of its dominance. Kompany’s side have paired control with a level of attacking output that has opened up an early 11-point lead over Borussia Dortmund, effectively reshaping the title race before winter has fully set in.

Goals at a historic rate

The scale of Bayern’s scoring helps explain why this season already feels different. BBC Sport reports that their 66 league goals after 17 games place them well outside the norms of modern European football.

Comparable returns require a long historical lens. Athletic Bilbao’s 72 goals in Spain’s 1930-31 season and Blackburn Rovers’ 73 in England’s top flight in 1889-90 remain rare extremes. Even Manchester City’s celebrated 2011-12 title-winning side, often cited as an attacking benchmark, were far behind Bayern’s current pace at the same stage.

At nearly four goals per game, Bayern are not only tracking toward their own Bundesliga record of 101 goals from 1972, but are flirting with numbers that would stand out in any major European league era.

Kane sets the standard

At the centre of Bayern’s attacking machine is Harry Kane, whose influence continues to deepen. The England captain has scored 31 goals in 27 appearances across all competitions this season, including 20 in the league, figures highlighted by BBC Sport.

His efficiency has improved steadily since his move from Tottenham, and he recently became the fastest player in Bundesliga history to reach 100 combined goals and assists. It is a marker not just of volume, but of consistency across different match contexts.

After that milestone, Kompany offered a brief assessment of his striker’s trajectory, saying: “He'll keep having a lot of individual records because he's a special player.”

More than a one-man attack

Still, Bayern’s threat does not begin and end with Kane. Fifteen different players have scored in the league, with seven contributing at least three goals each evidence of a side that spreads responsibility rather than relying on a single outlet.

Just as telling is how those goals arrive. Most have come from open play rather than set pieces, pointing to a system built around sustained pressure, movement, and repetition rather than isolated moments.

Whether Bayern can maintain this pace through the spring remains to be seen. But at the halfway mark, the numbers suggest this season is no longer just about another title it is about where this Bayern side might eventually sit in the club’s long history of dominance.

Sources: BBC Sport