Unfortunately the answer is no. Despite last night’s sterling performance by Borussia Dortmund in their 4-2 Super Cup over the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League holders at Westfalenstadion they won’t be able to live with the consistency Bayern will demonstrate throughout the year. They won’t even get close.
Last season Bayern were imperious; strolling to the Bundesliga crown and every other competition on offer, destroying the previously invincible Barcelona in the process. They were merciless in the league, dropping only 11 points all season with their only defeat coming at home to Bayer Leverkusen in October of 2012. This ensured they broke almost every record in the book:
– Most points in a season (91)
– Most wins in a season (29)
– Most clean sheets in a season (21)
– Highest goal difference in a season (+80)
– Earliest date to clinch the Bundesliga title (matchday 28)
Above are just a few of the dozens of records they broke, and illustrate my point, they simply are too good to not retain their title.
Worryingly for the other ‘contenders’ (and I use that term loosely) for the Bundesliga title, they are continuing to strengthen. Mario Goetze and Thiago have signed from Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona respectively for a combined fee of just under £50 million adding to the already illustrious midfield containing Robben, Muller, Ribery and Schweinsteiger to name but a few. This is easily the strongest midfield in the division, and its depth is arguably the best in the world with last season’s midfield providing 55% of the Bavarian’s league goals. The introduction of Guardiola as manager will develop a new aspect of their play, as they are likely to adopt the high pressing tactic used so successfully by Barcelona whilst Pep was at the helm. This was the man who in his 4 seasons in charge of the Catalan giants propelled them to 3 league titles, so he clearly has a knack for dominating the domestic scene.
So how do their nearest rivals Dortmund compare against them? Well, not very well actually. Despite having a magnificent squad, capable of beating Bayern in a one off game, as demonstrated by last night’s Super Cup result, they do not possess the depth and abundance of quality which Munich do. Thus ensuring they will not keep up the level of consistency of their rivals in every game of all competitions, demonstrated last season where they were second best in the league by such a considerably margin. They would need to invest heavily if they were to even become close to matching the 1/5 bookies favourites, but unfortunately this is unlikely as they cannot match the spending power of the richer Bavarians, who historically have always been the wealthiest team in all of Germany.
Unfortunately for the league there are no other real challengers, meaning the next group of teams will be aiming to achieve Champions League qualification through finishing in the top 4 of the league. Last season Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke occupied these places, although it was a close run affair with Freiburg and and Eintracht Frankfurt just 4 points behind, finishing in the Europa League positions. Although Leverkusen and Schalke have not made any great inroads in the transfer market, they have managed to keep hold of their key players with the team from the Ruhr keeping hold of much prized German youngster Julian Draxler. Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt also both over achieved last year with it being the latter’s first outing in the Bundesliga since their promotion in the 2011/2 season.
If the relegation battle is anywhere near as dramatic as last season’s then we’re in for a treat. Hoffenheim dramatically won away to Dortmund, scoring 2 goals in the last 15 minutes to overturn a one goal deficit; relegating Fortuna Dusseldorf whilst giving them another crack with a relegation play off against Kaiserslautern, which they went onto win. It should be similarly close this year with multiple clubs at risk of the drop, particularly newly promoted Braunschweig. They’re making their first return to the top flight since 1985 but it will probably just be a brief stay with a lack of finances available meaning they will not be able to acquire the quality needed to maintain top flight status. Greuther Furth suffered from this last year as the only spent €1.5 million, resulting in a dismal season for the Kleeblatter where they finished bottom of the league. Hertha Berlin will also struggle, but to a lesser extent as they have already signed 4 players with Bundesliga experience. Augsburg, who only just avoided the drop last year are also likely to go down, without the influential loan signing Ji Dong-Won whose 5 league goals aided their recovery in the second half of the season. Also tipped to struggle are Nurnberg despite their comfortable mid-table finish last season lack any potent goal scorers in their side, and could drop down the league should their defensive form dip.
Summary of Predictions:
1. Bayern Munich (Champions League)
2. Borussia Dortmund (Champions League)
3. Schalke 04 (Champions League)
4. Bayer Leverkusen (Champions League)
5. Hamburg (Europa League)
6. Stuttgart (Europa League)
………………………………………………………….
15. Nurnburg (safe)
16. Hertha Berlin (relegation play off)
17. Augsburg (relegation)
18. Eintracht Braunschweig (relegation)
The Sunderland Supporter 