5 burning questions as the Bundesliga returns
The Bundesliga is back from its annual winter hibernation and there are intriguing talking points at both ends of the table.
1. Is eight points enough for Bayern Munich?
It was around this time last season that Bayern Munich turned its attention firmly to the UEFA Champions League, which enters its knockout rounds in February. After coasting through the first 17 matches of 2014-2015 without a loss and 14 wins, the Bavarians, by their own lofty standards, struggled in the back half, winning 11, losing five and drawing one. Three of those losses came consecutively and at the start of May, as Bayern was simultaneously being dumped out of the UCL by Barcelona. The weight of expectation on the club to win Europe’s ultimate prize, compounded by the winter break confirmation that this will be manager Pep Guardiola’s last season in Germany may conspire to again stretch the champion this year. This season Dortmund is back to something resembling its fluid best and five losses could cost Bayern the title. The eight-point buffer is very handy, but Guardiola will need to motivate his team for a battle on three fronts if it is to win him a fabled treble in his final season. That may be easier said than done with rumours of a strained relationship between the manager and his fitness staff again bubbling to the surface.
2. Will this be the Aubameyang farewell tour?
Guardiola is bound for England, will Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang be following him, sooner if not later? The Gabon international is finally fulfilling years of potential, with a league-leading 18 goals from 17 matches.
The 26 year-old is three goals ahead of the man who created the hole he was signed to fill, Robert Lewandowski, and inevitably, has been linked to a number of Premier League clubs. Aubameyang has benefitted hugely from the sublime service from the likes of Shinji Kagawa, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan. Arsenal has been most strongly linked with the pacy forward and Dortmund is reportedly willing to sell, should the Gunners cough up more than $60 million for him. Over to you, Arsene.
3. Can Mathew Leckie add to his goals tally?
Socceroos attacker Mathew Leckie is an established starter for surprise package Ingolstadt this season, but he’s still only managed one goal – the winner for ‘die Schanzer’ against Augsberg in Week 3.
Ingolstadt’s fairytale start to life in the top flight has been built on a solid defensive foundation - only Bayern Münich has conceded fewer goals. It’s up front that the club has struggled to yield results and Leckie isn’t the only player finding the net hard to come by. Ingolstadt has sought to address that by signing Paraguayan international Dario Leczano, who had scored 11 goals from 14 matches for Luzern in the Swiss Super League before his transfer.
For his part, Leckie’s place in the starting line-up is virtually guaranteed – he’s only missed one match this season, due to injury. We’re expecting the goals to start flowing from a rejuvenated attack, with added options helping the 24 year-old from Melbourne to start finding the net more often.
4. Will an establishment club get the drop?
Three of Germany’s most storied clubs, Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart, are officially in relegation dogfight territory, with the scrap for survival taking on a far more interesting complexion than the snooze-fest at the northern end of the ladder. In 16th and with one foot slipping into the second division is Bremen, which brought back club favourite Claudio Pizarro, from Bayern Munich to lead the charge out of danger. It is really working out so far. With just nine points separating last-placed Hoffenheim and tenth-placed Hamburg, the list of casualties from the battle to stay in the top flight is set to be a long and enthralling one.
5. Is Ralph Rangnick about to do it again with RB Leipzig?
Speaking of Hoffenheim, the man who famously guided it from the German regional leagues all the way to the Bundesliga - Ralph Rangnick - is poised to do it again with RB Leipzig, which sits atop the 2.Bundesliga. The irony of Hoffenheim being relegated, only to be replaced by the architect of its fairytale run through the grades, is not lost on anyone. Rangnick joined Leipzig club four years ago from Schalke in the capacity of Sporting Director. Last season he was appointed manager and has engineered a similar run through the divisions to that of Hoffenheim from 2006-2011. It seems only a matter of time before ‘the professor’ is back at German football’s top table.
