Top-flight football returns to Germany in seven days when champions Bayer Leverkusen begin their title defence with a testing trip away to Borussia Mönchengladbach.
As Bayer romped to the title, neither of the Der Klassiker teams had a Bundesliga season to remember last year, as FC Bayern finished third in the table and Borussia Dortmund landed in fifth, though that was good enough to see them stay in the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Mönchengladbach finished 14th, a position the 50,000 Fohlen fans will be keen to beat this year, and by some margin.
This is a proud club. The Foals are five-time Bundesliga champions, three-time DFB-Pokal winners, and two-time UEFA Cup champions. And while the club’s most successful period was back in the 1970s, as recently as 2021, Die Fohlen reached the knockout phase of the Champions League only to lose to Manchester City in the Round of 16.
The latest Bundesliga 2024 betting odds predict a seventh-place finish for Mönchengladbach, so manager Gerardo Seoane has a target of bringing European football back to the club.
And he is working hard to get a competitive squad together in time for the big kick-off. French forward Alassane Plea is still the box office draw in Mönchengladbach. He’s scored 47 goals in 179 appearances since his arrival in 2018, and he will continue to be a fan favourite.
Seoane has moved to bring in attacking support in the shape of striker Tim Kleindienst from Heidenheim for a fee of €7 million. At 6’4”, he’s a big unit, and at Heidenheim, he was a one-in-two striker, scoring 47 goals in 95 games.
At 28 years of age, he is in the prime of his career. If he can take the step up, Kleindienst could strike up an extremely fruitful relationship with Plea.
In the middle of the park, Kevin Stöger has arrived on a free transfer from VfL Bochum, and the former Austrian U21 star will bolster the Foals’ midfield where 27-year-old Germany international Florian Neuhaus is another key figure.
Stöger’s arrival will partly address the situation surrounding Manu Kone, should the French star get his wish to play for a Champions League club.
Kone starred for Les Bleus at the Olympic Games, winning a silver medal, and France Olympic coach Thierry Henry is a big admirer of the 23-year-old, but Mönchengladbach are yet to receive an offer for Kone who they value at €25 million, so Seoane will be watching that situation closely over the next two weeks.
At the back, the Fohlen recruitment team are working hard to bring Leeds defender Max Wober back to the club, and board member Roland Virkus has suggested a deal could be struck towards the end of the transfer window.
The former RB Salzburg star can play at either left-back or on the left side of a centre-back pairing, and the deal makes good sense for both the club and the player.
Leeds’ valuation of Wober at around £10 million is a sticking point at the moment, but the Championship club needs to sell to balance the books, and that could play into Mönchengladbach’s hands over the next two weeks.
Odds say the old order will be restored
Both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have had a change in the dugout and some lively turnover in playing staff, as the Klassiker juggernauts aim to improve on last season’s rather underwhelming performances.
At a SBOTOP price of 1.48, Bayern Munich are strongly backed to wrestle the title back from Bayer Leverkusen. And new manager Vincent Kompany is under serious pressure to deliver at the first time of asking.
The former Manchester City star oversaw a disastrous season at Burnley last year, leading to relegation, so a few eyebrows were raised when he picked up one of the biggest jobs in football. Kompany arguably has an easier task in Munich than he had in East Lancashire, but the eyes of the world will be on him.
It’s all about Bundesliga 2024 results, and Bayern have moved aggressively in the market as Kompany has raided the Premier League for Michael Olise from Crystal Palace and box-to-box midfielder Joao Palhinha from Fulham for a combined cost of over €100 million, and defender Hiroki Ito from VfB Stuttgart for another €23 million.
With Bayer second favourites for the 2024/25 title, Borussia Dortmund are predicted to land third, and former fan-favourite Nuri Sahin has been installed as the man who can help BVB challenge for the title.
So far, he has signed centre-forward Max Beier from TSG Hoffenheim for €28 million, while defender Waldermar Anton and hitman Serhou Guirassy have arrived from VfB Stuttgart for a combined €40 million and wide-man Yan Couto has been signed on loan from Manchester City.
Another eye-catching capture for Dortmund is the switch of midfield maestro Pascal Gross from Brighton, and this is shaping up to be a really competitive squad.
Could we see a three-way race for the title this year?
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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