Bundesliga Returns – The Home Stretch

Football fans have something to cheer at last. Live football is finally here after a 2-month gap with Bundesliga slated to resume on 16^th May. Bundesliga has the best in-stadium environment with the highest spectator attendance across the world and playing behind closed doors is not ideal. However, you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs and the prospect of live football even if only on TV is soothing. This post looks at the title contenders as the Bundesliga enters its home stretch.

Bayern Munich: The Favourites

With the last 7 titles under their belt, Bayern Munich remain favourites to make it 8 in a row even though they haven’t been as dominant this season as the previous years. Bayern endured one of the worst starts of this century this season losing 4 of its first 14 games. Their coach Nico Kovac was sacked and replaced by Hansi Flick. However, under Hansi Flick, Bayern has seen a major revival going unbeaten in the last 11 games and winning 10 of those; moving from 4^th position to top of the league. Bayern remain the team to beat scoring the highest number of goals (73) and conceding the least goals (26) in the league. Robert Lewandowski with a league-high 25 goals looks set for a hat-trick of golden boot awards. Serge Gnabry is finally doing justice to his potential having scored 11 goals and 9 assists. Thiago Alcantara has been his usual solid self while young left-back Alphonso Davies has been a revelation with his strong performances. While the forced break has definitely broken Bayern’s momentum, come 27^th June, it is difficult to imagine anyone else at the top of the charts.

Borussia Dortmund: The Challengers

Borussia Dortmund had frittered away a 6-point lead at the half-way mark last season finishing second just 2 points below Bayern. Having missed out last year by a whisker, Dortmund would be looking to finish a notch higher. While Captain Marco Reus remains the backbone of this exciting Dortmund team, the young talent at hand – Jadon Sancho (14 goals and 15 assists), Thorgan Hazard & Achraf Hakimi (8 goals and 20 assists) and Erling Haaland (9 goals and 1 assist in 8 games) is reminiscent of the successful Dortmund team of 2010-12. While the combination of the experienced Matts Hummels and youngster Dan Axel Zagadou at the centre of defence sounds enticing, an inconsistent defence remains Dortmund’s key weakness. Dortmund have been comprehensively beaten by Bayern this season but Lucien Favre’s side has a chance to take revenge and cut down that 4-point gap at the top when they host Bayern later this month. With Dortmund’s young brigade in demand all over Europe, the prospect of another team break-up looks inevitable and a title win this year would be the best farewell gift the likes of Sancho can give Die Schwarzgelben.

RB Leipzig – The Dark Horses

A point below Dortmund is the up and rising RB Leipzig. The last time Bayern didn’t win the Bundesliga, RB Leipzig were in the fourth tier of German football and now they are consistently challenging at the top with Champions League qualification largely considered a given. This is a reflection of the big leap RB Leipzig have made. RB Leipzig lost some momentum going into the forced break but they have been largely solid throughout the season. Timo Werner has continued in beast mode scoring 21 goals and giving 7 assists and this is likely his last season here given he is on the radar of most European biggies. Youngster Christopher Nkunku seems another exciting prospect from the RB stable with 4 goals and 12 assists this season. RB Leipzig has been especially stubborn in defence having conceded just 26 goals (lowest in the league) with 8 clean sheets. Defender Dayot Upamecano and goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi have been stand-out performers at the back. RB Leipzig have largely an easy run-in going into the home stretch with the home game against Dortmund, the one difficult game. Julian Nagelsmann’s side will fancy their chances of finishing at the top concluding a 11-year journey which began in 2009 with Red Bull buying the playing license of fifth-tier SSV Markranstadt.

Borussia Monchengladbach & Bayer Leverkusen – The Pretenders

Borussia Monchengladbach lost steam after a spectacular start to the season which saw them top the league for quite a few weeks. Marco Rose’s side also has had a memorable comeback win over Bayern Munich this season. Youngsters Marcus Thuram and Dennis Zakaria have had eye-catching performances and are already on the radar of big European clubs. Reaching the summit looks tough but Monchengladbach will be happy with a Champions League spot.

Bayer Leverkusen have come back strongly in the last dozen games of the season moving to 5^th position from a lowly 10th. They have been boosted by some solid performances by Moussa Diaby and Lucas Alario but the stand-out performer has been Kai Havertz who is already rumoured to be headed to Bayern Munich next season. Peter Bosz remains a man on a mission having a point to prove after losing his job at Dortmund 2 years back and a Champions League place would be considered a success.