It’s easy in hindsight, this football punditry malarkey, isn’t it? I mean, it was pretty obvious to me that Bayern Munich would be big favourites to reclaim the Bundesliga title this season as they attempt to bounce back from – by their recent standards – a miserable 2023-24 campaign.
A campaign in which they were quite simply blown out of the water by the ‘invincibles’ of Bayer Leverkusen. Let’s not forget, Leverkusen were the team which went unbeaten domestically throughout the whole of last season and lost only one match at home and abroad out of a total of 52 contests.
Yet when it came to pre-season Bundesliga 2024 betting, it was still the Bavarians all the way, which showed just how dominant (financially and football-wise) they had been in the Bundesliga over more than a decade as they were tipped to respond emphatically.
So why is this SBOTOP still not totally convinced, even though they have a four point lead in the standings, have only been defeated once and have enjoyed plenty of Bundesliga 2024 highlights this side of Christmas?
When asked to chronicle Bayern’s journey to attempt to reclaim their dominance in German football, An obvious starting point is, when did they begin to turn it around? Well, their summer transfer outlay was a damn good start.
Firstly, they acquired the services of Japan defender Hiroki Ito, whilst kitting out young prospects Josip Stanišić – a title-winner with Leverkusen last term – and Arijon Ibrahimović with new deals; all before the official start of pre-season training.
A left-sided centre-back, Japan international Ito showed many qualities as he helped Stuttgart claim the runners-up spot ahead of Bayern on the final day of last season.
A duo from the English Premier League duly followed in the shape of Portugal international midfielder Joao Palhinha from Fulham and the exciting Michael Olise, snapped up from Crystal Palace on a five year deal.
With their attack spearheaded by England captain Harry Kane, who ended his debut season only five short of equalling Robert Lewandowski’s 41-goal record in a single campaign, it was always going to be hard for anyone to compete.
Leverkusen are actually making a decent fist of their title defence and have only been beaten once, yet still trailed Bayern by seven points.
That was until the weekend when Xabi Alonso’s men won at Augsburg and Bayern lost for the first time domestically this term at Mainz. With Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig six points adrift of the summit – and Borussia Dortmund not even at the races – it’s easy to see why Bayern’s bid to reclaim their dominance is clear cut.
Victory against Leipzig in their last home game of the year on Friday night will ensure that they go into the winter break on a high, still with a healthy lead – and that is without the currently injured Kane and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who has been ruled out for the rest of the calendar year with a broken rib.
Despite this, Bayern have conceded a league-fewest 12 Bundesliga goals to date.
While they are firm favourites though, there are a few reasons I am not convinced it will be as straightforward as some of the media will have you believe.
Although a one-off, alarm bells rang for me when they offered such little resistance to Barcelona in the Champions League in October.
What a night it proved to be for manager Hansi Flick against his former club in what was probably the Catalans’ best European match for four years. But it also demonstrated to me that Bayern are not the relentless force they were.
Is that because I have doubts over their manager Vincent Kompany, a superb player but, as yet, an unproven coach at the top level and someone who oversaw Burnley’s relegation in the English top flight last term?
Is it because they have a player in their defensive ranks who, while an international in his pomp, was considered not even good enough for the Spurs first team last season in Eric Dier?
Or is it because when sharp-shooter Kane is not playing, they lack the clinical firepower required at the top level?
After all, he is a player who racked up 64 goals in 64 games since his arrival from Tottenham Hotspur, with 21 assists thrown in for good measure.
Or perhaps I’m talking bumpkin – after all they have only lost one league game and had a few under par European performances – and Bayern will flex their muscles and romp away with it all.
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