The winter break is over and Bundesliga is back.
The first half of the season posed many questions that will be answered in the coming months, the biggest eroteme to hang over German football being whether Bayern Munich can go nine-in-a-row.
First half season review
The first half of the season was filled with plenty of drama including sackings, surprise losses and a wonderkid.
In the running for the Meisterschale Bayern Munich are favourites, as always, to reclaim a record ninth Bundesliga title on the spin, however it’s not as clear cut as it should be for the reigning domestic and European champions.
Former assistant coach Hansi Flick presided over a monumental turnaround at the Allianz Arena after a waning Bayern, unsure how to fill the boots of retiring superstars Robben and Ribery, sacked Niko Kovac in the middle of last season.
A surprise defeat on the second day of this campaign along with a myriad of recent draws mean that not everything has gone the way of the Bavarian giants, with Bayern in touching distance of the rest of the pack.
Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig have emerged as the prime contenders to Bayern which is surprising considering Leverkusen lost star player Kai Havertz to Chelsea in the summer and Borussia Dortmund, who, with the talents of their squad, should be the main contenders to Bayern’s supremacy, have almost lost sight of Flick’s team in a torrid first half of the season for the BlackYellows.
BVB capitulated to the point they sacked head coach Lucien Favre after two years at the club.
One thing that is not surprising is RB Leipzig’s challenge.
Only founded in 2009 and currently under the astute leadership of Julian Nagelsmann Die Roten Bullen have a remarkable pedigree in Bundesliga.
Having only ever played four seasons in Germany’s top flight RB finished second in their debut campaign and two third place finishes in the last two years means they go ahead of the likes of Stuttgart to become Germany’s third team.
Lewan‘goal’ski, the Bayern superstar striker, was officially recognised by FIFA as the best player in the world the week before the winter break.
Lewan’s goalscoring return in the last season and a half has been outrageous, but the Polish superstar isn’t just topping up his impressive goal stats at the end of 6-0 routs. Lewan has played pivotal roles in Bayern’s domination including a man-of-the-match performance in the first Klassiker of the season and two goals in the most recent game against Bayer Leverkusen to help Bayern snatch a vital 2-1 victory against their nearest challengers.
The nightmare unfolding at BVB is not so surprising considering there looked to be creaks in motivation as far back as the tail end of last season when Dortmund somehow produced a lacklustre 6-1 victory over Paderborn.
From there things have never looked totally right for BVB and it all came to a head when Lucien Favre was dismissed after a title crushing 5-1 defeat against Stuttgart.
BVB should not be where they are – fifth and an almost insurmountable eight points behind Bayern.
The managerial hot seat at the Signal Aduna Park currently oversees one of the most exciting squads in the world and if there was any time for Dortmund to finally win another league title since Jurgen Klopp’s triumph in 2012, now was supposed to be it.
Social media scope
Further articles:
–Moukoko becomes Bundesliga’s youngest ever goalscorer but BVB still suffer shock loss to Union Berlin: Match report
–Player analysis: Lewandowski takes Fifa Best Player award off Ronaldo and Messi after out of this world goalscoring season
–Lewandowski breaks the 250 goal mark in Bundesliga with win over Wolfsburg: Match report
–Fact-pact: Everything you need to know about Scotland’s World Cup qualifying group for Qatar 2022
Second half of the season: What to look out for
German football is still producing a roll call of talent. Last season Werner and Havertz completed their apprenticeships and moved to the English Premier League for big money, this year it’s all about Florian Wirtz and Youssoufa Moukoko.
Moukoko came to the fore after only his fourth appearance in Bundesliga against Union Berlin. Even though Dortmund lost Moukoko got his a goal, an explosive finish in the box, to become the youngest ever goal scorer in Bundesliga.
Wirtz, a whole year older than Moukoko at 17-years-of-age, was called in by Leverkusen to fill the boots of the departing Havertz and hasn’t done badly, scoring two and assisting four in twelve league starts.
The ‘minnows battling the machine’ story this season goes to Union Berlin.
The Iron Ones as they’re nicknamed have a complex history of a club that was divided by East and West Germany and the Berlin Wall.
You can still see clues to the club’s harsh past in the manual style scoreboard that ticks over with giant number cards slotted into place at the imposing Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
This is Union Berlin’s first season in Bundesliga and they have been a revelation on a shoe string.
The Iron Ones sit sixth in the table having accumulated 21pts and are undefeated against giants Dortmund, Stuttgart and Bayern.
Schalke call on former Tottenham Hotspur boss Christian Gross to stop the atrophy setting in in Gelsenkirchen.
Schalke have been in disarray, stuck at rock bottom of the league having only accumulated four points in thirteen matches. To put some context on Schalke’s situation, this is a club ranked sixteenth richest in the world ahead of Roma and Inter according to Forbes.
Gross seems a steady if uninspiring choice.
The Swiss coach only lasted nine months at Spurs with just over a 30 per cent win record before chairman at the time Alan Sugar pointed the finger and said ‘you’re fired’.
Bundesliga restarts Saturday the 2nd of January.
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 