There was a moment in 2013 where it was believed that the
Bundesliga would finally overtake it's counterparts and become the
'best' league in Europe. Bayern had thrashed Barcelona in the semi final
of the Champions League and Dortmund had broken a Mourinho and
Cristiano Ronaldo led Real Madrid to set up an all German final.
This, coupled with the emergence of huge German talent coming through
the ranks and becoming very formidable in all major European leagues,
as well as the strength in depth that the German national team boasted,
led people to believe that this would be the start of a German dominance
in European football.
After Bayern experienced a year of feeling like the world was against
them in 2011/12 when they lost out to Dortmund in the league and and
lost to Chelsea in that unforgettable Champions League final, the Bayern
executives decided to take affirmative action. Since then they have
invested huge money in expanding an already very talented squad with
signings such as Dante, Martinez and Mandzukic.
This led to one of their best seasons ever. They beat Dortmund to
the title with all new signings flourishing, won the DFB-Pokal against
Stuttgart and achieved what they could not in 2012 - they got a
Champions League winners medal against (guess who?) Borussia Dortmund.
The Champions League final coincided with the news that Mario Gotze,
the star of the BVB team, would be making the switch to the Bavarian
giants. This is a strategy that Bayern have used consistently. Buying
good players is not as fulfilling as stealing good ones from possible
rivals. Strengthen yourself and weaken the opposition. Mandzukic moved from Wolfsburg, Dante from Gladbach, Neuer from
Schalke and Gotze from Dortmund to name a few. In June Lewandowski and
Sebastian Rode (Frankfurt) will join as well.
This means that all talented players in the Bundesliga have a natural
desire to play for Bayern, and all other teams are left becoming feeder
clubs who simply cannot keep up with the financial might or the pulling
power that Bayern possess.
If this carries on in the vein it is at the moment, the Bundesliga
will turn into a one horse race as it currently is this season with the
difference between Bayern and Dortmund a massive 17 points already.
People were getting excited by Dortmund's emergence and the
competitive nature the Bundesliga was developing but whilst Germany will
be happy that their clubs are doing well in Europe, it is disappointing
to see the league become so one sided. Dortmund have dealt with major players leaving with Klopp finding
able replacements for Sahin, Kagawa, Barrios and Gotze. The questions
remains.
Can he keep creating miracles with very limited funds at his
disposal? Will he be able to aptly replace Reus, Gundogan and Hummels if
they decide to jump ship? Will he be able to find a new goalscorer with
Lewandowski now heading to Munich?
Other teams such as Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke,and Wolfsburg will not
be able to breach the gap between them and the newly crowned 'Club
Champions of the World'. Leverkusen do not have the strength in depth or
the general quality - especially after Sidney Sam decided to switch red
and black for blue and white and join Schalke.
Schalke themselves have many top quality players but they, like Dortmund, are forced to sell at inopportune times.
Wolfsburg are the only club that could dream of competing with Bayern
on a financial level and if they keep on making captures such as Kevin
de Bruyne from Chelsea then slowly but surely they could build a squad
that could compete.
For now though, there is only one team in Germany. They are the best
team in the Bundesliga and in Europe and whilst they are absolutely
fantastic and in contention to rival the Barcelona team from a few years
ago, the rest of the Bundesliga will worry that Bayern may be handed
the trophy before the season even starts in future.
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