Everything you need to know about bundesliga before it returns - Hansel D'souza
- Unfiltered
- May 14, 2020
- 4 min read
Bayern’s title, Favre’s Dortmund, can Leipzig produce a shocker? Here’s what you need to know before the Bundesliga returns this weekend.
As the world continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, all eyes will be on Bundesliga as it is set to resume behind closed doors. Germany’s top flight will become the first major football league in Europe to return to competition this week.
It comes as no surprise, the team from Bavaria top the league. League leaders Bayern Munich have won 17 of the 25 games played so far this season, drawing 4 and having lost 4, Veteran keeper Manuel Neuer leads the league for highest clean sheets being 10. Leipzig is the only other team to have conceded the fewest goals this season, who are level with league leaders Bayern with 26 goals conceded.
Clinical finisher, lethal in front of goal, none other than that man Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker leads the chart for having netted the most goals in the league. 25 goals from 23 games you can certainly tell Bayern’s number 9 has been in blistering form this campaign averaging a goal per game. He also has 3 assists to his name.
They had put a patchy start to the season under Niko Kovac behind them before the shutdown, with Hansi Flick coming in as coach and Bayern winning 10 and drawing one of their last 11 league games. The Bavarians are four points clear of Dortmund at the top and have been busy since their last game, with Flick signing a new contract until 2023.Key players Thomas Mueller and Alphonso Davies followed suit by penning extensions of their own, while former striker Miroslav Klose has joined as assistant coach. They still have to visit Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, although it remains to be seen how much home advantage will matter without fans.
It would normally amount to journalistic malpractice to describe the animosity between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 without the word 'pulsating', but this time the Ruhr rivals are going to have to rev themselves up for a game behind closed doors. With Schalke chasing a European spot and Dortmund chasing a ninth Bundesliga title, this intense, high-stakes derby should be an interesting case study for whether football can work in the world of coronavirus - but aside from that nerd stuff, it's a match which always, always delivers. Dortmund will have to shake off the memory of their most recent match before football took a breather - a gut-wrenching away loss to Paris Saint-Germain that saw them lose a Champions League round of 16 tie that they were winning after the first leg.
It's a brave new world for football, and predicting this is about as easy as trying to defend against Sancho on a fast break without him nutmegging you. Multiple rumours surround the departure of 20-year-old starlet Jadon Sancho. The young Englishman has been in red hot form having a hand in 29 goal contributions in the league (14 G 15 A).
Erling Braut Haaland is one of the most talked-about strikers in world football and rightly so. Incredibly the teenager has already made three transfers in a professional career that only started in 2015 - yes he was playing in the Bryne first-team at just 15-years-old. Such has his impact been in a few short months in Dortmund that he is already the subject of near-constant speculation about where his fourth move in a little over four seasons will be. Just how good is the Norwegian, and do his stats stack up against best? While 16 goals in 30 matches during his final season in Norwegian football, where he was managed by Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was impressive, Haaland's impact at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund is what has catapulted him into the limelight. In particular, it was a hat-trick for Red Bull against Genk on his Champions League debut that really set heads turning. He has now netted 40 times in 33 appearances for Red Bull and Dortmund this term.
The 2019/20 campaign, Leipzig’s first under new manager Julian Nagelsmann, has seen them push for the Bundesliga title. Prior to the season getting suspended, the Saxony-based outfit were sitting third in the table, five points behind leaders Bayern and just a point below second-placed Borussia Dortmund.
Nagelsmann replaced Ralf Rangnick, who is widely regarded as the architect of the club, having played a key role in their rise as sporting director as well as head coach for two seasons, including the last campaign when he took over the reins on an interim basis after Ralph Hassenhuttl parted ways with the club. Under the 32-year-old tactician, Leipzig have elevated themselves into one of the most exciting teams in Germany and Europe.
Playing an attractive, attacking brand of football, the club have plundered 62 goals in the Bundesliga this season, being outscored only by Bayern (72) and Dortmund (68). At the same time, Die Roten-Bullen have been solid at the back, letting in just 26 goals, which is the joint-best defensive record in the league, along with leaders Bayern.
In Timo Werner, Leipzig possesses one of the most consistent and prolific goalscorers in Europe. The 24-year-old German international has been in top form for the past couple of years and is one of the most sought after players heading into the summer transfer window. His pace and ability to play in the wider roles makes him the ideal fit in the system Nagelsmann employs.
Werner is the second-highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga this season, having plundered 21 goals in 25 matches so far. The German forward also has seven assists to go along with it. In addition, the 24-year-old has six goals and five assists in the Champions League and DFB-Pokal combined.
This is how the list of fixtures look for the return of the Bundesliga this coming weekend.
If you’re a football fan then you definitely do not want to miss out on these highly enthralling set of matches because the Bundesliga never disappoints.
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