Why Bayern Munich only have five stars on their shirt despite winning 32 Bundesliga titles and six European Cups

Despite getting their hands on six European cups and 32 Bundesliga titles, Bayern Munich have five stars on their shirt.

It has been a tradition to reward clubs’ success by allowing them to showcase their triumphs through stars on their shirt.

Each country’s association will have their own star system, with the most popular choice being a gold star for every 10 top-flight titles won.

However, Bayern have five stars despite winning 32 Bundesliga titles and six European Cups/Champions Leagues.

This is because instead of a star for every 10 top-flight titles, the Bunesliga’s governing body, Deutsche Fussball Liga decided in 2004 to implement a system where stars would be given to teams that have reached set milestones of three, five, 10 and 20 league titles and so on.

After winning their 30th title in the 19/20 season, then Bayern CEO Karl Heinz Rummenigge said: “The fifth star on our home jerseys is the reward for 30 league titles since the founding of the Bundesliga in 1963.

“This has been earned by many generations of players, and is proof of FC Bayern's decades of consistency at the highest level - FC Bayern fans can be proud of that.”

Aside from Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach have two stars on their shirts after winning five Bundesliga titles.

Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart and Hamburg have one star on their shirt having won four and three titles respectively.

Whilst one-time Bundesliga champions Cologne and Kaiserslautern have no stars on their shirts.

Bayern will be looking to add a seventh Champions League this season as they take on Manchester City in the quarter-final at the Etihad on Tuesday night.

PA Images

Ahead of the match, Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel said: “I will try to go to bed early. I hope I will be able to sleep.

“The best preparation is sleep but sometimes it is hard to get that sleep when you're thinking about things.

“This morning I woke up really early and I just decided to go to the training ground because I couldn't get back to sleep. I just kept thinking about the match.”