Bumper Bundesliga refresher course
Through 25 rounds of thrilling football the 2019-2020 Bundesliga had produced one of Europe's best title races this season. Here's where it picks off post COVID-19 break.
Struggling to split your Unions from your Herthas as the Bundesliga resumption resumes? Can't remember which of the green clubs was in the midst of a relegation scrap, or who that surprise title contender was?
Let us refresh your memory with this handy pocket guide for when the season bursts back to life, live and exclusive on beIN SPORTS this Saturday night.
The Title race
While serial winner and perennial contender Bayern Munich has won seven Bundesliga titles on the trot and 28 of the things altogether, last season was a sign of the changing times in the German top-flight. The title race went down to the final day of the season after an enthralling campaign which saw Borussia Dortmund lead by as many as nine points in January. At the time coronavirus shut down Europe, there were three clubs nipping Bayern's heels at the silverware end of the ladder.
Dortmund sits in second, four points off Bayern. The chasing pack is tightly-grouped with just three points separating RB Leipzig, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer 04 Leverkusen from third to fifth. With 27 points still on offer, there are sure to be several twists and turns before a champion is crowned, not least with the number of fixtures still to be played between the top sides.
Bayern still has play all three of the teams trying desperately to bring it down. Hansi Flick's side has looked vulnerable at times during the campaign, suffering back-to-back defeats against Mönchengladbach and Leverkusen in the first half of the season. Meanwhile, RB Leipzig and Dortmund will battle it out at the Red Bull Arena on the penultimate weekend of the season.
The Push for Europe
Keeping fans engaged in proceedings down towards the middle of the ladder is the eternal battle for places in European tournaments, and the finance-soaked integrity that brings with it. With a gap of 10 points separating FC Schalke 04 in sixth from Bayer Leverkusen in fifth, it looks likely that the four UEFA Champions League qualification spots on offer will be dispersed between the current top five.
However, the race for the final UEFA Europa League qualification spot in sixth – and a potential further spot in seventh dependent on the winner of the DFB Cup – is on like lederhosen during Oktoberfest.
Just seven points separate the Royal Blues in sixth and Bundesliga first-time fairytale contenders Union Berlin in 11th, with Eintracht Frankfurt, possessing that most cherished of latter season trump cards - a game in hand - to play against 17th-placed SV Werder Bremen.
Australia international Mat Leckie's Hertha Berlin is just two points further back. With so few points between them and so many still left to play for, the battle for European places will only be overshadowed by a thrilling title race - not something we always get in the upper echelons of European football.
The teams in the thick of the battle are Schalke, Wolfsburg, Freiburg, Hoffenheim, Köln and Union Berlin. The latter pair both being promoted to the Bundesliga this season adds another storyline to their tales, while Schalke 04 is bouncing back from a disappointing mid-table finish last season.
The Battle against relegation
Fans down the scary end of the table are chewing fingers for a vastly different, albeit just as thrilling - or excruciating depending on who you support - reason: the relegation battle.
Some of the teams mentioned above hoping for a late push towards Europe will need to be just as aware of what’s happening over their shoulders, with dropping into a late relegation battle equally as possible. As things stand, Paderborn is 10 points adrift of safety at the bottom with powerhouse Werder Bremen two points ahead, and only four points behind, Fortuna Düsseldorf in the relegation play-off spot in 16th.
Bremen is one of just six clubs in this season's competition to have won the Bundesliga. Making a rapid departure from the cardiac places will be a key objective for 37 year-old manager Florian Kohfeldt.
For teams at the bottom, having a goalscorer in form can often be the difference between picking precious points and the precipice.
Promoted Paderborn has come unlucky there, with top scorer Streli Mamba ruled out for the rest of the season. While Werder Bremen with Milot Rashica, Fortuna Düsseldorf with Rouwen Hennings and Mainz with Robin Quaison all have a proven goalscorer. It could come down to which of those is most clinical in front of goal in the final nine games of the campaign.
The Bundesliga remains the undisputed home of football’s next biggest stars, the likes of Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, Bayern’s Alphonso Davies, RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz among the brightest talents in the game.
Sancho’s team-high 14 goals and 15 assists mean he has contributed to more goals this season than any other player in the league, including 25-goal top scorer Robert Lewandowski. Werner is one goal shy of a personal record in the Bundesliga with 21 so far, while Havertz has picked up where he left off from after last season’s 17-goal campaign with six goals and five assists so far.
Davies has perhaps been the Bundesliga’s biggest surprise this season, not only coming to Bayern’s aid when defensive injuries added up to play at left-back but now making the position his own. It will be a near-impossible decision for Hansi Flick to make when the likes of Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Süle are back to full fitness.
The Unsung heroes
Much like the wonderkids of the Bundesliga, there are a host of players whose hard work may not have been celebrated as much in the headlines as they deserve. The tireless defensive midfielders, dominant centre-backs or those playmakers who get more passes to an assist than the actual assist. Before the season gets back underway, make sure you know to watch out for the players doing the dirty work.
Take Konrad Laimer at Leipzig for example, who has been one of the best performers this season. The 22 year-old Austrian defensive midfielder is already in his third full season in the Bundesliga and is stamping his authority on every game. No midfielder has won more challenges than his 286, while Paderborn’s Sebastian Vasiliadis shares the same total and is very much of the same ilk – a tireless ball-winning midfielder. Only four players have covered more distance in 2019-2020 than Paderborn’s 22 year-old.
One of the main reasons Union has been able to stay clear of a relegation battle so far this season is its striker Sebastian Andersson. The Sweden international has 11 goals this season – six of those coming with his head, which is more than any player across Europe’s top five leagues – and five of his goals have been assisted by the Bundesliga’s set-piece king Christopher Trimmel.
Union’s 33 year-old right-back and captain has seven assists in total, the most for an out-and-out defender. There are so many more out there among the Bundesliga’s array of players, so keep your eyes out for those doing the hard yards to get their side crucial points in the business end of this season.
