Nine consecutive titles for Bayern (and the tenth one is looming), with an average difference of 14 points in relation to the closest rivals. The ’pride’ of German football became a problem because they took away most of the result uncertainty to the Bundesliga. The new head of the Deutsche Football League (DFL), Donata Hopfen, the first woman in that position, openly said what many think. “Of course, the league would be more attractive if we had more competition at the top. For me, there are no ’holy cows’. If the playoffs would help us, then let’s talk about the playoffs”, continued Donata Hopfen and started a real debate about the future of the Bundesliga.🚨‼️New DFL boss Donata Hopfen on if playsoffs will help Bundesliga in terms of competition:”There is nothing sacred, if that helps, we’ll talk abou playoffs”. Any drastic countermeasures will be taken, if they have to, to increase the excitement. The boss is open to ideas.💬 pic.twitter.com/3FZzVKBBaa— 𝟙𝟡𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕙𝕠𝟘𝟡🖤💛🐝 (@SchwarzgelbenFT) February 6, 2022 There was even mention of the Belgian system, with the third part of the season in which the best would play with the best for the title and Europe, while the weaker ones would fight among themselves for survival. But the Germans seem to be closer to the option to play – the Final Four. One variant is that in the “football week”, as the tournament would be called, two semifinals and that one final match could be played either on a neutral field, or the field of the team that was better placed in the regular part of the season. The table after the regular 34 rounds would certainly decide who would go to Europe.(14.0) BOCHUM (8.00) BAYERN (1.20)Such radical changes would require agreements with all media partners, so if there would be indeed any change of Bundesliga format, it would probably not happen before the 2025/2026 season, because such radical changes would require agreements with all media partners. Also, it should be decided first how the income from those four additional games would be shared.Playoffs in the Bundesliga?Bayern Munich’s Oliver Kahn is open to the idea. pic.twitter.com/yUM4jji0Hm— DW Sports (@dw_sports) February 10, 2022 But how did the football executives reacted to the idea? The majority is against it, even thou Bayern Munich is ’suffocating’ them for the last two decades. Rudi Voller, managing director of Bayer Leverkusen called the idea ’a completely wrong approach’ and declared he is absolutely against it, while his counterpart Marcel Schafer of Wolfsburg said that he thinks that ’our system is good the way it is’. Borussia Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke was in a bit cooler mood than his colleague Voller. “It is well known that I was never a friend of play-offs. But taking into account the respective overall situation with a view to the game modes, there should be no fundamental prohibitions on thinking” said Watzke. Bayern’s coach and players ‘annoyed’ with Sule’s free transfer to DortmundOn the contrary, the club because of which this whole idea started, thinks it’s ’exciting’.”I find it exciting to think about new models such as play-offs for the Bundesliga. A new format will also take effect in the Champions League from 2024, which we have high hopes for. A mode In the Bundesliga with semi-finals and finals would mean excitement for the fans. So it makes sense to play through such an idea. We at FC Bayern are always open to new ideas“ said Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn.’I’m tired of football and I’m tired of you’: Borussia director cracks under pressureAnd what about the most important ’ingredient’ of German football – the fans? In a poll on ’The Kicker website’, 62 percent of fans voted against the playoffs. And their opinion is respected, at least in Germany.
