Germany's most successful club.
Harry Kane's rise from a loan spell at Leyton Orient to the first English Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen was built on relentless output rather than reinvention, and it raises a harder question: who follows him?
Harry Kane is the strong favourite to win the 2026 Ballon d'Or on raw scoring output, but the award has historically rewarded individuals even as football organised itself around collective systems.
Arsenal travel to the Allianz Arena as Opta's model rates them Europe's top side, but Bayern arrive on a six-goal high and without Michael Olise.
The sweeper began as a purely defensive safety net. Beckenbauer turned it into a platform for building play, stepping out from the back to lead attacks.
How a team is arranged when it has the ball decides how well it defends when it loses it. The inverted full-back became one of the best-known answers.
