Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – The next solo effort by series champions FC Bayern or finally tension thanks to Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig? In the 59th season of the Bundesliga, which will be shaped by the consequences of the corona pandemic, the long-term winners from Munich are once again the clear top favorites.
After the fifth star on the jersey, you could now win the tenth league title in a row. “I hope that next year there will be the first championship celebration for me on the Munich city hall balcony,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann before the eagerly awaited start in Gladbach on Friday evening (8.30 p.m. / Sat.1 and DAZN).
Bayern are once again favorites
The 34-year-old had already set himself “something tinny” in Leipzig and now wants to make up for this previously unfulfilled wish in his Bavarian homeland. “I am aware that you have to win titles here,” said Nagelsmann, whose squad around 41-goal bomber Robert Lewandowski is by far the best in the league, even without the migrated David Alaba and Jérôme Boateng. A mixed preparation and the late return of the EM drivers clouded the weeks before the kick-off, but that does not change the undisputed status of Bayern.
BVB with Marco Rose and RB with Jesse Marsch are also pursuing new coaches. Both would be happy if in May 2022 it could not only be about the long-distance duel for second place, but finally also about the bowl again. «Bayern have the greatest opportunities and are the favorites. All other teams, including us with RB Leipzig, are challenged to attack them again, ”said Marsch. The Saxons have fixed the biggest construction site: If a reliable goal guarantee was missing last season, André Silva (28 goals this season for Frankfurt) is now obliged to do so.
At BVB, turbo striker Erling Haaland, who scored 60 goals in the first 60 competitive games, stayed and is supposed to fuel the attack of the team led by Marco Reus and Mats Hummels. The only 21-year-old Norwegian has advertised himself with speed and assertiveness as well as his famous graduation so that even the Bavarians are watching him carefully. “This is a top player that the whole world wants – probably,” said sports director Hasan Salihamidzic at Sport1 about Haaland.
In addition to the title contenders, Wolfsburg, Gladbach, Frankfurt and Leverkusen have also changed coaches; there has never been such a roulette at the top of the league between two seasons. It will also be exciting to see who will hold their own in the fight to stay in the league. The two newcomers Bochum and Fürth are just as clear outsiders as Bielefeld. Clubs like Freiburg, Mainz and Augsburg have become stuck in the upper house, while Hamburger SV and Bremen and Schalke have not been part of the Bundesliga since this season and have to struggle in the 2nd division.
The 3G rule initially applies to viewers
Not only is the occupation of many coaching benches new, but also the occupancy of the spectator stands. Unlike in the past few months, when due to the corona pandemic, games were consistently played in front of empty stands, tens of thousands of fans should again be allowed to flow into the stadiums. Initially, 50 percent of the stadium capacity and a maximum of 25,000 people are the maximum. Eintracht Frankfurt, which recently wanted to go to court against a restriction by the Ministry of Social Affairs, wants to exhaust this upper limit on the first match day.
But the past season also began when the pandemic situation was favorable with fans, who were quickly banned again in autumn when the incidences increased. This time, however, the situation is different: More than half of the people in Germany are double vaccinated, instead of another ghost game, this time debates are likely to threaten who is still allowed to enter the stadium with what proof.
First of all, the 3G rule applies, according to which those who have been vaccinated, those who have recovered and those who have tested negative get access to the arenas. 1. FC Köln has already modified this rule and from the end of August only wants to let in vaccinated and convalescent people – also to increase the vaccination motivation in society. Other Bundesliga clubs have been rejecting this so far, sometimes with vehement words. Hoffenheim’s managing director Jan Mayer sees such considerations as an “obligation to vaccinate through the back door”.
The clubs must further agree with the local health authorities how many fans are allowed in on site. BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke made a suggestion for this during the summer break. «Why shouldn’t a stadium be sold out only with vaccinated people? Where is the problem? What if the first people to be vaccinated complain why they are not allowed to go to the stadium? ”Asked Watzke. Nobody cares about that.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210811-99-803023 / 3
– .
