Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – Bayer Leverkusen is currently third on the Champions League course – and still closer to relegation rank 16 than the league leader FC Bayern.
This curious circumstance illustrates how motley things will be in the Bundesliga in autumn 2021 behind the defending champion from Munich and his pursuers Borussia Dortmund. Union Berlin is ahead of Leipzig, Bochum ahead of Gladbach, and Mainz 05 is suddenly on course for Europe. The big question arises: who wants to play in the premier class next year?
Heidel: “League more balanced than ever”
“The teams are very close together, also in terms of performance. You can see that in the results – and then there’s Bayern Munich,” said Freiburg’s Christian Streich, describing the current situation in the Bundesliga. His sports club is also a serious candidate for Europe with 26 points shortly before the end of the first half, even if Streich does not like to hear that.
Other examples are TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in fourth and Eintracht Frankfurt in seventh. The two coaches Sebastian Hoeneß and Oliver Glasner have been heavily criticized in the recent past. Now the short-term turnaround and series of victories followed, and it’s all about Europe again and even the leap into the Champions League.
“I see German football, the Bundesliga as very exciting, very attractive, extremely intense. I really think it’s worth going to the stadiums,” said Glasner. His team recently provided examples of this in the 5-2 win against Leverkusen and the 3-2 win in Gladbach.
The fact that there seem to be two available places for the premier class behind Bayern and BVB this time is also due to the weakness of RB Leipzig, which are currently dueling on an equal footing with clubs like Mainz or 1. FC Köln. After the coaching change from Jesse Marsch to Domenico Tedesco, an upward trend was recently discernible. Top striker André Silva, who disappointed at the beginning, also scored regularly again and gives hope for a better second half of the season.
Decline in quality behind FC Bayern
The tension may be positive for the league, but in this year’s Champions League preliminary round, the decline in quality behind FC Bayern was noticeable. Dortmund and Leipzig have to continue playing in the Europa League, after all as a quartet with Leverkusen and Frankfurt there is a chance to reach a final for the first time since 2009.
“I also see German football in a very, very good position. Leverkusen and we were in first place in the Europa League group,” emphasized Glasner. At other clubs, the Austrian relativized and explained the problems with injuries and corona cases. Somehow a lot has mixed up this season, but only in places three to 17. At the top, permanent champions Bavaria are enthroned, at the bottom, outsider Greuther Fürth has virtually no chance.
“The league is more balanced than ever and Bavaria is by far normal at the top,” commented the Mainz sports director Christian Heidel. An additional element of tension for the second half of the season could be the double burden of the top teams: Leipzig, Frankfurt and Leverkusen are still in the Europa League, while Freiburg, Mainz, Union and Co. can fully concentrate on the Bundesliga.
If the teams from Streich, Bo Svensson and Urs Fischer continue to surprise, they will get rid of all relegation worries very early on. “I also think it’s very balanced. You really have to work hard for the points every weekend,” said Fischer. Many supposed outsiders are currently doing this extremely well.
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