The Bundesliga has been a Bayern Munich league for as long as I can remember. The German top flight has been ruled by the Bavarians, as they are the lone club that has bagged the Meisterschale since the 2012-13 season!
Some would say that the Bundesliga has become a two-horse race because of the rise of Borussia Dortmund. BVB served as a breath of fresh air for the German football faithful. Bayern finally had a reliable foe, which sparked a rivalry and a compelling story.
Early on this season, things are looking a little different in the German top flight. One might be surprised to look at the league table and not see either Bayern or Dortmund in the top two. Although still a threat, the two German clubs that frequent glory are both tied with 17 points and are currently third and fourth in the league table.
The current top seed is Xabi Alonso’s Bayer 04 Leverkusen. I want to say no one saw this coming, but since Alonso took the helm for the Black and Reds, they’ve been quietly making their presence felt as one of the top clubs in Germany.
Has the Bundesliga become a more competitive scene where a handful of teams now have a chance to win the league, or is it too early to tell? Courtesy of SBOTOP, here are the early frontrunners for the illustrious Meisterschale.
FC Bayern Munich
By this time, Bayern Munich and the Bundesliga are practically synonymous. The Bavarians have reigned over German football for the last 11 consecutive years! And they’re still in a great position to go for another one this 2023–24 campaign.
The biggest bolster to Bayern this season is the addition of former Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane. Bayern fans were rightfully getting frantic due to the departure of Bundesliga legend Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski was the catalyst for Bayern’s longevity at the top of the German top flight. He played a total of 375 games for the Bavarians and netted 344 goals in his stint with Bayern. Losing a player of this calibre is surely worrying if you’re a fan, but Bayern quickly extinguished the brewing fire and signed England captain Harry Kane, who has already produced a couple of Bundesliga 2023 highlights this season.
Both Bayern and Kane delivered. The Bavarians remain as the apex predator in Germany, and Harry Kane is showing that he fits the bill to be Bayern’s new main man.
Thomas Tuchel and his club are currently third on the league table with 17 points. They are tied with the top seed, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, with 23 goals and a goal difference of 17. Expect Bayern to stay within striking range of the top spot all throughout the season.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund had the best opportunity in recent years to dethrone Bayern Munich of their Bundesliga title.
The Meisterschale was theirs to take last season, but they let it slip out of their hands. The world witnessed a poised Dortmund choke against Mainz to hand Bayern the title.
It literally came down to the last game of the season, where Dortmund had to win against the struggling Mainz squad in order to clinch the title. Everyone, possibly including Mainz, expected a cakewalk since BVB were the overwhelming favorites to win the game. However, the unexpected occurred.
The underdogs scored two unanswered goals in the first half, and BVB have failed to fully recover since then. They took back two goals to tie the game, but it was not enough to bring the Meisterschale home. As a result of the draw, Bayern snuck it to take the top seed in the league table and extend their undisputed reign into an eleventh year.
Even though Edin Terzi and the rest of BVB were denied the opportunity to raise the trophy the previous year, they are acting with maturity and mentality on par with champions this time around. They haven’t lost a step, and as per the Bundesliga 2023 odds, they are still one of the favourites to win the German top flight.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Now that we got the obvious two out of the way, it’s time to put the spotlight on the best storyline to come out of the Bundesliga so far this season.
Bayer are on a meteoric rise and are atop the league table! Manager Xabi Alonso was able to transform this already competitive club into one of Germany’s best. Bayer have had four different managers in the last five years. Their best finish in the season during that span was in the 2021–23 season under Gerardo Seoane, where they finished third.
The Red and Blacks entrusted Alonso to steer the ship for the second year in a row, and it’s looking like it’s the right move. They are still undefeated this year, and they are the top seed in the league table with 19 points. Since the beginning of September, Bayer have only given up seven goals while scoring 29 in eight matches across all competitions. The only club that came close to ending their streak were Bayern in a 2-2 draw at Allianz Arena.
With Victor Boniface and Jonas Hofmann leading the squad on the pitch and Xabi Alonso at the helm, it’s hard to undermine their early dominance.
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