Rivalries

Bayern is one of three professional football clubs in Munich. Bayern's main local rival is TSV 1860 Munich, who were the more successful club in the 1960s, winning a cup and a championship. In the 1970s and 1980s, TSV 1860 moved between the first and the third division, but lately have settled in the second division. The rivalry has therefore, at least from a Bayern point of view, lost importance, reflecting the lopsided state of the achievements of the two clubs and the absence of players for whom local grudges would still matter. On the other hand the Münchner Stadtderby is still a much anticipated event, getting a lot of extra attention from supporters of both clubs. 1860 is considered more working-class, and therefore suffers from a diminishing fan base in a city where the manufacturing sector is declining. Bayern is considered the establishment club, which is reflected by many board members being business leaders and including the former Bavarian minister president, Edmund Stoiber. Despite the rivalry, Bayern has repeatedly supported 1860 in times of financial disarray.
SpVgg Unterhaching from the semi-rural southern outskirts of Munich, is the city's third team. They celebrated their biggest success in 1999 when they gained promotion to the Bundesliga and stayed in the top flight for a second season. Since then they have been playing in the second Bundesliga and the third division. Since the 2008–09 season they are playing in the newly founded 3rd Liga. There is no rivalry between Bayern and Unterhaching, the most notable event in the relation of the two clubs being the finish of the 1999–2000 Bundesliga season. Unterhaching defeated Bayer Leverkusen on the last day of the season, giving Bayern the chance to surpass Leverkusen in the standings and claim the title.
Since the 1920s, 1. FC Nuremberg has been Bayern's main rival in Bavaria. Both clubs played in the same league in the mid-1920s, but in the 1920s and 1930s, Nuremberg was far more successful, winning five championships in the 1920s, making the club Germany's record champion. Bayern took over the title more than sixty years later, when they won their tenth championship in 1987, thereby surpassing the number of championships won by Nuremberg. The duel between Bayern and Nuremberg is often referred to as the Bavarian Derby.
Since the 1970s, Bayern's main rivals have been the clubs who put up the strongest fight against its national dominance. In the 1970s this was Borussia Mönchengladbach, in the 1980s the category expanded to include Hamburger SV. In the 1990s Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen, and Borussia Dortmund, emerged as the most ardent opponents. Recently Schalke 04, Bremen and Hamburg have been the main challengers in the Bundesliga. Amongst Bayern's chief European rivals are Real Madrid, A.C. Milan, and Manchester United due to many classic wins, draws and losses.
Bayern also enjoys a strong rivalry with the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, originating in parts from a game in 1973, when Bayern led 4–1 to lose 7–4, but also from the two clubs competing for German championship honors at various times in the Bundesliga as well as the city of Kaiserslautern having been part of Bavaria until the end of the Second World War.