DFB-Pokal in the context of "FC Bayern Munich"

The 2. Bundesliga (Zweite Bundesliga [ˈtsvaɪtə ˈbʊndəsˌliːɡa]; lit. '2nd Federal League') is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below the Bundesliga and above the 3. Liga in the German football league system. All of the 2. Bundesliga clubs take part in the DFB-Pokal, the annual German Cup competition. A total of 127 clubs have competed in the 2. Bundesliga since its foundation.

The decision to establish the league as the second level of football in West Germany was made in May 1973. The league started operating in August 1974, then with two divisions of 20 clubs. It was reduced to a single division in 1981. From the 1991–92 season onwards clubs from the former East Germany started participating in the league, briefly expanding it to two divisions again. It returned to a single division format again at the end of that season and has had 18 clubs since 1994. Two clubs from the 2. Bundesliga are directly promoted to the Bundesliga, while a third promoted club is determined through the play-offs, from 1974 to 1991 and again since 2008. Between 1991 and 2008 the third-placed club in the league was directly promoted. The bottom clubs in the league are relegated to the third division; from 1974 to 1994, the Oberliga, from 1994 to 2008, the Regionalliga and since 2008, the 3. Liga. The number of relegated clubs has fluctuated over the years. Since 2008 two clubs are directly relegated while the third-last team has the opportunity to defend its league play in the play-offs against the third placed team of the 3. Liga.

The Bundesliga (German: [ˈbʊndəsˌliːɡa] ; lit. 'Federal League'), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga ([ˌfuːsbal-]) or 1. Bundesliga ([ˌeːɐ̯stə-]), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga. Seasons run from August to May. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with a focus on Saturdays. All Bundesliga clubs take part in the DFB-Pokal cup competition. The winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup.

The Bundesliga was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963–64. The structure and organisation of the Bundesliga, along with Germany's other football leagues, have undergone frequent changes. The Bundesliga was founded by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (English: German Football Association), but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (English: German Football League). Fifty-eight clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding. Bayern Munich has won 33 of 62 titles (with 60 appearances), including eleven consecutive seasons between 2013 and 2023. Other past champions include Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and VfB Stuttgart.

Thomas Müller (German pronunciation: [ˈtoːmas ˈmʏlɐ]; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Müller has been praised for his positioning (hence his nickname "der Raumdeuter" (the 'interpreter of space')), finishing, work-rate, and consistency in both scoring and creating goals. He is both the all-time German top goalscorer and assist provider in the UEFA Champions League, scoring 57 goals and providing 30 assists.

A product of Bayern Munich's youth system, which he joined at age 10 in 2000, Müller represented the club until 2025. With Bayern, he won a record thirteen Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals, eight DFL-Supercups, two Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups. He joined the first team in the 2009–10 season after Louis van Gaal was appointed as the main coach; he played almost every game that season as Bayern won the league and cup double and reached the 2010 Champions League final. Müller scored in the 2012 Champions League final though Bayern lost the final on penalties. Müller scored 23 goals in the 2012–13 season as Bayern won a historic treble; the league title, cup and Champions League. In 2019–20, he broke the Bundesliga record for assists in a season with 21 (a joint record in the top five leagues alongside Lionel Messi in La Liga) and scored 14 goals as Bayern won a second treble. With 756 matches played across seventeen seasons, Müller is Bayern's all-time record appearance holder, scoring 250 goals and providing 223 assists for the club across all competitions, and one of only three players in league history to reach the landmark of 100 Bundesliga goals and 100 assists each (alongside Andreas Möller and Marco Reus). He also holds the record for the most UEFA Champions League appearances with one team.

Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. (German pronunciation: [ˈaɪntʁaxt ˈfʁaŋkfʊʁt] ) is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. Eintracht have won the German championship once, the DFB-Pokal five times, the UEFA Europa League twice and finished as runner-up in the European Cup once. The team was one of the founding members of the Bundesliga at its inception and has spent a total of 56 seasons in the top division, thus making them the seventh longest participating club in the highest tier of the league.

The club has 155,000 members, and thus is the fourth largest club playing in German football.

Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (German: [boˈʁʊsi̯a mœnçn̩ˈɡlatbax] ) and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. They play in the Bundesliga, the top flight of German football. Nicknamed Die Fohlen [diː ˈfoːlən] (The Foals), the club has won five league titles, three DFB-Pokals and two UEFA Cup titles.

Borussia Mönchengladbach was founded in 1900, with its name derived from a Latinised form of Prussia, which was a popular name for German clubs in the former Kingdom of Prussia. The team joined the Bundesliga in 1965 and saw the majority of its success in the 1970s, where, under the guidance of Hennes Weisweiler and then Udo Lattek, a young squad with a fast, aggressive playing style was formed. During this period, Mönchengladbach won the Bundesliga five times, the UEFA Cup twice and reached a European Cup final in 1977.

Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (German pronunciation: [ɛs faʊ̯ ˌvɛʁdɐ ˈbʁeːmən] ), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association football team, who compete in the Bundesliga, the first tier of the German football league system. Bremen share the record for most seasons played in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and are ranked third in the all-time Bundesliga table, only behind Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

Werder have been German champions four times, have won the DFB-Pokal six times, the DFL-Ligapokal once, the DFL-Supercup thrice, and the European Cup Winners' Cup once. The team's first major trophy was the 1960–61 DFB-Pokal; they last won the cup in 2008–09. Bremen's first German championship came in 1964–65, and their latest in 2003–04, when they won the double. In European football, Werder won the 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup, and were runners-up in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup.

The 1964–65 SV Werder Bremen season is the 55th season in the football club's history and 2nd consecutive and overall season in the top flight of German football, the Bundesliga, having earned qualification for the inaugural season from the Oberliga in 1963, after finishing second in the Oberliga Nord. Werder Bremen also participated in the season's edition of the domestic cup, the DFB-Pokal. The season covers a period from 1 July 1964 to 30 June 1965.