The Bundesliga seems to be gaining in street cred with talk about big crowds all standing and singing and paying next to nothing for cheap tickets and cheap beer on a regular basis. With that in mind it’s useful to be able to hold up your end of a pub conversation about the league so here’s a whistle-stop guide to the teams in contention for the title.
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Bayern Munich
FC Hollywood are both the most and least popular team in Germany. Their arrogance (apparently even Germans hate arrogance in other people), their policy of buying the best players from their rivals, and a smidgeon of jealousy contribute to the universal hatred of the most famous and talked about club in the country.
The team disappointed last season, finishing third in the Bundesliga, but their erratic domestic form masked a strong initial showing in Europe that threatened at the real potential of this group of players. They were eliminated by Inter in the Round of 16 (capitulating horribly having won the first leg in Italy) but were among the more impressive teams in the group stages. That’s a fairly meaningless achievement but their comfortable performances suggested that this was a team capable of beating nearly anyone when they managed to put a decent showing together.
For 2011-12 they have replaced the obstinate Van Gaal with Juup Heynckes and the new coach (or whoever signs players at the club) has already addressed the more obvious weaknesses in the side from last season. Manuel Neuer will replace a succession of hapless pretenders to Oliver Kahn’s throne in goals, while Rafinha and Boateng arrive to shore up a porous defence. Two more intriguing signings might be Nils Petersen (a young German striker who has been prolific in the 2. Bundesliga with Energie Cottbus) and 19 year-old Takashi Usami, the J League Young Player of the Year who arrives on a season long loan with an option to buy.
Bayern didn’t really need to strengthen their squad but they have. Their real problem has been getting the most from the existing players so their most important acquisition is undoubtedly Heynckes. Despite an impressive spell with Leverkusen it’s 13 years since he won a meaningful trophy anywhere – the 1998 Champions League with Real Madrid. His last league title is a Bundesliga with Bayern 21 years ago. He won’t be given the chance to settle in at a club like Bayern so he’ll have pressure for results from the start.
Defensive lapses ultimately cost Bayen the chance of challenging last season. Neuer and the defensive signings, coupled with the organisation of Heynckes, should be enough to see them regain the title. They are blessed with an astonishing array of talent in midfield (Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Gustavo, Robben, Ribery) and now that Gomez is on form, his combination with Muller should have sufficient goals to bring a Bundesliga title back to Bayern.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund were surprise winners of the Bundesliga last season but it would be an almost equally impressive achievement by Jurgen Klopp if he delivered a second title in a row to the Westphalia club.
The main objective for the champions in the transfer window has been retention rather than acquisition, particularly after the early departure of Sahin to Real Madrid. The Turkish midfielder was a key component of the title winning side and will be badly missed by Dortmund and by the league. Encouragingly they have been successful in resisting advances for their other stars and the youthful starting lineup from last year remains largely intact.
Sahin has been replaced by German underage international Ilkay Gundogan who arrives from FC Nuremberg. Their other notable signing is Croatian international (and Belgian League Player of the Year) Ivan Perisic who arrived for €5m having scored 22 times from an advanced midfield role for Club Brugge last season. They haven’t bothered adding to a very strong defence with Hummels and Subotic forming a hugely impressive partnership protected by Bender or Kehl in front.
Sahin is unquestionably a significant loss for Borussia but they look to have made two good signings and importantly have retained most of their young talent. If Perisic and Gundogan can flourish alongside the talents of Goetze, Kagawa, Barrios and Hummels they will have every chance of running close again this season. They were almost unbeatable at home last season (losing their opening fixture to Leverkusen and remaining unbeaten at home thereafter) and will need similarly impressive home form if they’re to ward off the threat from Bayern. The likelihood is that the rich guys from Bavaria will have enough to beat them but Dortmund may be building something special with the squad they’re assembling.
Outside Challengers
Despite all the goodwill that exists about the Bundesliga these days it’s tempting to conclude the list of would-be title challengers after two entrants. Granted Dortmund were a breath of fresh air last year and there may be a surprise challenger to emerge from the pack this year but what follows is a rather negative assessment of the secondary challengers.
Bayer Leverkusen
The perennial runners-up managed yet another second place finish last season but can hardly be accused of throwing the title away as they had done before. They even managed a late burst of form to briefly pressurise Dortmund but they were comfortable runners-up eventually.
Leverkusen have been trying to stem the exodus of resources all summer. They lost their coach to Bayern Munich and nearly lost their best player last season, Arturo Vidal, to the same club. It won’t be much consolation that he went to Juventus instead but at least it prevents Leverkusen from allowing their rivals to strengthen as they weaken themselves. Sami Hyppia is the third significant absentee from the squad for the new season. The Finnish centre back was a terrific addition to Leverkusen when he left Liverpool and his leadership at the back will certainly be missed.
The one piece of positive business that Leverkusen managed to pull off was signing Andre Schurrle from Mainz for €8m, though this transfer was concluded almost a year ago. He is an attacking player of some promise, as evidenced by his international appearances for Germany, and should add another attacking dimension alongside the more robust Kiessling. They retain a serious midfield with Rolfes, Barnetta and Augusto augmented by the ageing Ballack but their defence looks a little threadbare without Hyppia.
New coach Robin Dutt overachieved at Freiburg and will have to do likewise to keep Leverkusen in the title hunt. They lack the overall quality to mount a serious title challenge unless the proceeds from Vidal’s departure are put to exceptional use.
Schalke 04
Schalke had a rather disastrous 2010-11 season that bizarrely culminated in them reaching the Champions League semi-final. Their place in the latter stages of that tournament was as unlikely as the untimely and unpredictable as the early passing of Amy Winehouse and no less traumatic in its outcome. The nous of Raúl in front of goal contrived a win against Inter but domestic form told a different story.
The Gelsenkirchen side have lost Neuer to Bayern of course and Rangnick has at least succeeded in clearing out some of the dross that fills up the reserve team but they haven’t been as successful in actually strengthening the team. Marica (formerly known as the Romanian Rooney according to Anglocentric commentators a few years ago) has signed from Stuttgart but he hasn’t really set the world alight in the Bundesliga and Austrian international Christian Fuchs has signed from Mainz.
They’re unlikely to be as desperately poor in the Bundesliga as they were last season but with the “distraction” of Europe a factor again they haven’t a prayer of winning the title.
Hamburg
Hamburg’s big plan for dragging themselves out of last season’s midtable obscurity seems to be signing up the dregs of Chelsea. Bruma (on loan) and Mancienne are added to HSV’s defence with Tore and Sala supposedly proving a greater attacking threat. The remainder of their underwhelming additions are a litany of loan returnees – none particularly successful – and a Norwegian midfielder I’ve never heard of.
In contrast to this less than stellar list they’ve lost Zé Roberto and Van Nistelrooy to more lucrative superannuation paydays elsewhere while the more youthful (and possibly important) Mathijsen and Trochowski have left for La Liga clubs. They may fall even further down the table next season.
Hannover
Hannover did a fine job of following in Dortmund’s slipstream, at a respectful distance, for much of last season but when Leverkusen and Bayern applied pressure at the end of the term they fell away politely into fourth spot.
They haven’t really done any transfer activity of note (i.e. I’m not too familiar with the names) so would be more than content with a fourth place finish again. They won’t get it though. They’ll come sixth.
Other clubs that might harbour hopes of a European place:
Stuttgart managed to sack two coaches between the start of last season and the Christmas break so Bruno Labbadia must be counting down the days to his departure. Seven different coaches in seven years tells you all you need to know about the stability at VfB and it’s hard to see them improving sufficiently to finish in top five or six. They have at least added some solidity in Maza at centre back and Danish international William Kvist in midfield.
Werder Bremen joined Schalke, Stuttgart and Wolfsburg in flirting with relegation last season so they are likely to remain in their state of decline. Hoffenheim should expect to overtake many of the clubs who surprisingly finished in the top half in 2010/11 with Kaiserslautern and Nuremberg having furthest to fall.
Mainz deserved to be mentioned earlier in this article, particularly in light of their creditable fifth place spot last season. They will find it tougher without Holtby and Schurrle but Tuchel deserves all the praise accruing to him for his management of Mainz so far and they should hold onto a top half finish.
With those negative predictions someone must be expected to climb up the table and Wolfsburg look most likely. Magath always seems to start strongly at his clubs and though he still has the Diego situation to resolve he has inherited an underachieving squad that is peppered with talent. He has won a title with the Wolves before and while that isn’t on the cards this year he may well be able to bring them into Europe next season before abruptly leaving for greener fields in the distance.
The remaining teams should be battling against the drop though it doesn’t tend to work out that way in the Bundesliga too often.
Selected Bundesliga Odds:
Bayern 8/15 Dortmund 9/2 Leverkusen 11/1 Schalke 17/1 Bremen 25/1 Wolfsburg 25/1 Stuttgart 33/1 Hamburg 33/1