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Ahead of a barely noticeable winter break in this unusual season, ESPN’s Bundesliga headline commentator examines the situation in Germany’s top flight heading into 2021. Will Bayern stay on top and how is the fight for the descent, among other issues?
One of the many reassuring aspects of Bundesliga life is symmetry. Traditionally, midway through the 34-round campaign, we pause, take stock, and look forward to the second half of the season played in the same order as the first.
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The German language offers us an abbreviation of these two 17-day segments: the First round (First half) and the Rueckrunde (second half), with a Winter Break (winter holidays) that last several weeks and help us look forward to everything again. In this pandemic year, of course, everything is different.
The late start and the absence of a full-blown winter break, which allows coaches and players at least a week of training in warm weather, have made clear the message that these are not normal times. While the leaders at the end of the First round have the informal title of Fall teacher (winter champions) awarded to them, this year with only 13 rounds completed, we had to get a little more creative with our terminology.
Bayern rules the First round hen house
So Bayern Munich is Holy teacher (Christmas champions), something that seemed unlikely for most of their top-of-the-table showdown with Bayer Leverkusen at the Bay Arena on December 19. Outmatched early in the game and found themselves 1-0 behind in a seventh straight league. game the Record champions However, he found a way to turn a possible loss into a last-gasp victory, secured by FIFA The Best award winner Robert Lewandowski, assisted by Joshua Kimmich.
That Kimmich played a role was a minor miracle. Out for 42 days after sustaining a meniscus injury in a 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund, Bayern’s chief stabilizer entered the middle of the second half. Kimmich is the one who completes the team, with his intelligence and sheer indefatigability, and he had been sorely missed, thus serving as a warning to Bayern’s title contenders that he will be back from scratch when Mainz travels to the Allianz Arena on Sunday. (Live broadcast on ESPN + at 12:00).
It is natural to view the final matchday of 2020 as a missed opportunity for Leverkusen, as RB Leipzig drew 0-0 at home to FC Koln and Dortmund fell 2-1 to surprise Union Berlin.
But while Bayern are favorites to win a ninth in a row Championship trophy (Champions’ Bowl), the demands on his players will not subside in 2021. In early February, he will travel to Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup and the corresponding avalanche of matches. Others have a responsibility to be more ruthless, but will it be enough?
Bayern lost only one competitive game in all of 2020 (to TSG Hoffenheim). They are the undisputed masters when it comes to negotiating the unique challenges of playing in a pandemic. It’s safe to say that they will overcome most of the expected, and perhaps unexpected, obstacles that will arise.
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Can anyone dispute the Bayern position?
Among the teams in the upper half of the table, Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg, FC Union Berlin and VfB Stuttgart have exceeded expectations, while Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach have performed below the level we anticipated. In Gladbach’s case, there are extenuating circumstances. Having to be prepared for Champions League football in a demanding group, which includes Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk, certainly took its toll on the Elf foal. That they have progressed from that group was a considerable achievement and a feather in the cap of coach Marco Rose.
A few weeks ago, I was a bit worried about SC Freiburg, which I consider to be a history of permanent well-being when it comes to the Bundesliga. But in the last five days he has the best record of any team in the league. Three consecutive victories in a week against direct rivals in the fight for relegation has raised the Breisgau side up to the tenth. His coach, Christian Streich, celebrated nine years at the job this week and, frankly, there is no one else he would like to do. As Freiburg is one of the most important university cities in Germany, wise owls know a good thing when they see it.
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USA Young Player of the Year Gio Reyna has been in top form for Dortmund so far from 2020-21.
Background sticks playing with fire
In the lower half, the biggest disappointments have been Hoffenheim, another team perhaps affected by European considerations. The only team with a new coach in the new season, I am inclined to give them a pass as the football with Sebastian Hoeness has been eye-catching. After two previous failures on the continental stage, all in the Kraichgau The club were determined to make amends and they can feel confident facing the Norwegian Mold in the Europa League knockouts in February.
With a First round Run in these next few weeks, look for Hoffenheim to climb the table again. Their 2-1 win at Gladbach last time in the league could be a harbinger of better things to come.
Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin and Koln have their heads above water for now, but will it continue to do so? Of the three, he might be a little more concerned about Bremen, for whom points have been hard to come by. Their three victories have been at the expense of the current last three and they have Union, Leverkusen and Gladbach as opponents before the Rueckrunde begins. The accumulation of points seems more likely in the short term for Hertha and Koln.
The drama of relegation looms
Sixteenth-placed Arminia Bielefeld have scored key victories, both well deserved, against Mainz and Schalke 04 in recent weeks. Third place and a relegation spot in the playoffs would not be a minor achievement for a club returning to the Bundesliga after an 11-year absence.
Will the two teams below Bielefeld in the automatic descent positions be able to dig up new supervisory personnel? Mainz is “going back to the future” with the return of general manager Christian Heidel as a senior member of the board overseeing Sport, Strategy and Communications. With sporting director Rouven Schroder sacked just before Christmas, former Mainz coach Martin Schmidt enters. Heidel and Schmidt are targeting the club’s former player and youth coach, Bo Svensson, who currently manages Liefering in Austria.
Meanwhile, Schalke are in their fourth manager of the season after David Wagner, Manuel Baum and Huub Stevens. The Gelsenkirchen club have handed over the reins to former Tottenham manager Christian Gross, who last worked in the Bundesliga more than a decade ago with VfB Stuttgart in 2009. It has the appearance of a desperate roll of the dice for a team without a league win in almost a year.
Happy New Year!
On a personal note, thank you for reading my weekly German soccer columns for the past few months and a Happy New Year to you and your family. ESPN + viewers and many around the world can join me for live international commentary on Hoffenheim-Freiburg (Saturday, 9.30am ET) and Bayern-Mainz (Sunday, 12pm ET) this weekend.
Source: espn.co.uk
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