There are many indications that the Bundesliga season, which begins on Friday, will see a three-way battle for the title. The first challengers to defending champions Leverkusen are Bayern Munich and Dortmund.
Defending a championship title in Germany is a complicated matter. Only four clubs have managed it successfully in 61 years in the Bundesliga: record champions Bayern Munich, of course, and Borussia Dortmund in this century, as well as Hamburger SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1970s and 1980s respectively.
"We know that the expectations will be much higher than last season," says Leverkusen playmaker Granit Xhaka, summing up the problem of defending the title and providing the solution: "We had a great last season. But that's over now." We have to look ahead and not think about what we have achieved. "We have to see in which areas we can improve."
Leverkusen did some good groundwork in the summer to follow up their first championship title with a second. The main aim was to keep the team together, which won the double last season unbeaten and only failed to reach the final of the Europa League - which was successful apart from the return of Josip Stanisic to Bayern Munich on loan. Xhaka particularly values coach Xabi Alonso's decision to stay: "Despite the offers, he has stayed with us and believes that this team can take the next step."
Major investments in Munich
The next step towards consistency and major success in Germany is always a step towards Bayern Munich. Munich responded to the first season without a title since 2011/2012 with a new coach (Vincent Kompany) and investments of almost 130 million euros. The defense was strengthened with the Japanese Hiroki Ito from Stuttgart and the Portuguese João Palhinha from Fulham, the offense with the young winger Michael Olise from Crystal Palace, who recently made a decisive contribution to France's Olympic silver medal and is the most expensive new signing of the Bundesliga season at 53 million euros.
Dortmund, led by Swiss national keeper Gregor Kobel, have also upgraded. With Maximilian Beier, Waldemar Anton and Pascal Gross, three German European Championship participants have joined the Champions League finalists. In addition to Beier, former Stuttgart player Serhou Guirassy compensates for the departure of Niclas Füllkrug to West Ham. The team, which can no longer count on veterans Marco Reus and Mats Hummels compared to the previous season, will be led by young coach Nuri Sahin, who at 35 is even three years younger than Vincent Kompany.
The new ones from the Super League
A look at the Bundesliga coaches reveals that the clubs like to keep things young and varied in this position. Frank Schmidt, who has coached Heidenheim for almost 17 years, is the big exception. There is no other coach who has been in charge for more than three years. Gerardo Seoane from Lucerne is already one of the oldest coaches after a full season at Borussia Mönchengladbach and, at 45, is only in midfield in terms of age. The oldest coach is Peter Zeidler, who joined Bochum from St. Gallen at the age of 62.
The popular Super League to Bundesliga transfer axis has otherwise remained very quiet in recent weeks. Former YB defender Aurèle Amenda was the only Swiss player to move from the Super League to Germany, to Eintracht Frankfurt. Even so, Switzerland is well represented in its neighboring country. Only France and Austria have more Bundesliga internationals than Switzerland with its 14 players, who are entering the new season with very different expectations.
Rieder and Stergiou in pursuit
In addition to national team captain Xhaka and Kobel, who has just been promoted to national team goalkeeper, the two Stuttgart players Fabian Rieder, on loan from Rennes, and Leonidas Stergiou, who has been permanently transferred from St.Gallen, are also likely to compete for the top places. Together with Leipzig, who have lost Dani Olmo to Barcelona, VfB, who have qualified for the Champions League, appear to be the first runners-up to Leverkusen, Bayern and Dortmund.
In Mönchengladbach under Seoane, Nico Elvedi and Jonas Omlin will try to make up for a very disappointing last season. Edimilson Fernandes and Silvan Widmer in Mainz, Cédric Zesiger in Wolfsburg and Ruben Vargas in Augsburg will also be hoping not to get as close to the relegation places as they did last spring.
Noah Loosli will probably have to fight hard with Bochum to avoid relegation. Coach Zeidler's team, together with promoted teams St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel, are the first candidates for relegation. Johan Manzambi and Bruno Ogbus, the two Swiss junior internationals at SC Freiburg, are aiming for as many minutes as possible. Defender Ogbus was already in the starting line-up in the Cup last weekend.
Program and statistics:
Bundesliga. 1st round. Friday, August 23: Mönchengladbach - Leverkusen. - Saturday, August 24: Leipzig - Bochum, Hoffenheim - Kiel, Mainz - Union Berlin, Freiburg - Stuttgart, Augsburg - Bremen, Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt. - Sunday, August 25: Wolfsburg - Bayern Munich, St. Pauli - Heidenheim.
The Swiss Bundesliga legionnaires (14): Aurèle Amenda (Eintracht Frankfurt), Nico Elvedi (Mönchengladbach), Edimilson Fernandes (Mainz), Gregor Kobel (Dortmund), Noah Loosli (Bochum), Johan Manzambi (Freiburg), Bruno Ogbus (Freiburg), Jonas Omlin (Mönchengladbach), Fabian Rieder (Stuttgart), Leonidas Stergiou (Stuttgart), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg), Silvan Widmer (Mainz), Granit Xhaka (Leverkusen), Cédric Zesiger (Wolfsburg).
How the 2023/24 season went. Champions: Leverkusen. - Champions League: Stuttgart (2nd), Bayern Munich (3rd), Leipzig (4th), Dortmund (5th/additional place thanks to the UEFA coefficient). - Europa League: Eintracht Frankfurt (6th), Hoffenheim (7th) - Conference League: Heidenheim (8th) - Relegated: Cologne (17th), Darmstadt (18th). - Promoted: St. Pauli (1st), Holstein Kiel (2nd). - Top scorer: Harry Kane (ENG/Bayern Munich) 36 goals - Cup winners: Leverkusen.
