The German Bundesliga may not be known as the best league in the world or in Europe but it still remains one of the most exciting leagues out there.
Followers of other top European leagues might not know this, but the Bundesliga boasts of the most attendance amongst all European leagues, when the totals from each stadium are combined. An average of 45,000 fans troop to the 18 top flight stadiums weekly to cheer their favorite teams to victory, with attendance reaching well over 60,000 in some stadiums.
The German Bundesliga is also ranked second by UEFA, according to performances in UEFA competitions over the years.
The German top flight league has hitherto been dominated by Germany’s most successful team Bayern Munich who have so far won the Bundesliga a whopping 26 times including back to back wins for the last 4 seasons.
Some critics are beginning to assert that the Bundesliga is gradually becoming boring and one sided following Bayern’s domestic dominance. These critics aren’t far from the truth; having a team wrap up the league title with several games to spare on consecutive occasions usually makes the campaign look a bit lightweight. However, it also goes to show how good, resilient, excellent and tactically disciplined the champions (Bayern Munich) must have been.
Why the trend would continue
After winning his fourth consecutive Bundesliga title, Pep Guardiola (Bayern’s ex-manager) decided to look for a fresh challenge and found it in Manchester city, whilst Carlo Ancelotti was immediately drafted in to take his place.
Carlo has once been quoted as saying he could win the Bundesliga with one hand in his pocket. Whether that statement is a bit of an exaggeration or not, the Italian gaffer must have a couple of reasons for making such an assertion.
Below are some of the reasons why his comments might hold some validity.
Bayern’s monopoly of the best players
Bayern Munich has continually dominated the entirety of the Bundesliga in terms of transfers and consistently flexed its transfer muscle in Germany, the reason for this is not far-fetched. Bayern have the money to spend and are, without question, the best team in league.
Bayern Munich have continued to attract the best players both in Germany and abroad.
The transfer of Manuel Neuer, Mario Götze, Robert Lewandowski, and recently Mats Hummels attests to the fact that Bayern remains the go-to team for the best players in the Bundesliga.
Players from other top leagues are also very much interested when Bayern come knocking. This can be proven with the past transfers of top players such as Thiago Alcàntara from Barcelona, Xabi Alonso from Real Madrid, Douglas Costa from Shakhtar Donetsk and much recently the exciting Renato Sanches from Benfica to mention but a few.
Bundesliga teams losing good players
I couldn’t help but talk about this fact. German Bundesliga teams who are expected to mount a strong title challenge against Bayern Munich keep losing their best players to other top European teams (including Bayern); the transfer of Robert Lewandowski and Mario Götze, both from Dortmund to Bayern further buttress this point.
Last season, Kevin De Bruyne, who was named Bundesliga player of the season was easily snapped up by an English team (Man City) for a huge amount. In the current transfer window, scintillating talents such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Dortmund), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach), and İlkay Gündoğan (Dortmund) all moved away from the Bundesliga to English Premier League teams.
Bayern Munich on the other hand has held on to their best players and even strengthened their squad by signing more quality players.
With the Euros still ongoing, we are yet to see any big name arrivals to any of Bayern’s competitors in the Bundesliga; even though Dortmund (arguably Bayern’s fiercest rivals) have been reasonably busy in the transfer market, bringing in 6 new players including Marc Bartra from Barcelona, Ousmane Dembele from Rennes, and Emre Mor from FC Nordsjælland.
From the look of things, it is clear that all Bundesliga teams will still end up chasing Bayern Munich again when the Bundesliga resumes in August.
