After 11 years of Bayern Munich supremacy, Bayer Leverkusen surprisingly won the Bundesliga title way above the Bavarians and this might be the only season in recent Bundesliga history in which the German giant won‘t be the main candidate for the title. After all, Bayer Leverkusen is the current champions, they have finished the season without a single defeat and they have kept the team intact. On the other side, Bayern revamped the team and also changed the manager, bringing in relatively inexperienced Vincent Kompany. So, on paper, the Bavarians are not the favorites, but will surely be somewhere at the top. Borussia Dormund also made some big changes while Leipzig stayed more-less the same as last season. But what about the others? Let‘s look at it in our Bundesliga preview.It’s back, and #ItMeansEverything 🖤❤️ pic.twitter.com/pT6tGLOMya— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) August 21, 2024 The heavyweight battleDisaster. This simple word is enough to describe both Bayern Munich‘s last season, but also this new one, if certain conditions are met. After 11 long years of consecutive titles, the Bavarians had a disastrous season in 2023/24 and not only lost the title, but finished third, for the first time since 2011. There were also no trophies in the Champions League, German Cup or even Supercup and they also changed the coach at the end of the season. Thomas Tuchel failed in his mission but the coaching search was also a bit amateurish. They were rejected by multiply candidates and in an hour of despair even tried to continue with Tuchel (he rejected) so out of the blue came Vincent Kompany. Former Manchester City captain is still a young coach and Bayern is a massive task, but the Belgian is full of confidence. And that‘s where the word ‘disaster‘ comes to mind. There will be no disaster if the newly promoted coach finishes as second or third in his first season. After all, a Champions League winner Thomas Tuchel finished third. But considering the situation in which you have a massive club with almost a rookie coach and a rewamp of the team, things could implode if Bayern is not in the mix for the title come January. Every other scenario is acceptable for the Bavarians executives, considering the coaching change and the rebuild process. Michael Olise, Joao Palhinha and Hiroki Ito came in for a combined sum of 127 million euros, while Jonathan Tah might arrive from Bayer Leverkusen. Matthiys De Ligt and Noussar Mazraoui were shipped to Manchester United, while Bryan Zaragosa was loaned back to Spain after only six months in the club. Players like Kingsley Coman, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka could leave by the end of the transfer window, marking a new era.The cruelty of football: Bayern cross Goretzka outOn the other side is current champion Bayer Leverkusen, still undefeated in Germany. They finished a fantastic season with both the Bundesliga title and the German Cup trophy and narrowly missed on an Europe League title (lost to Atalanta in the final). Their squad is almost intact and the only important players who might go until September 1st are Jonathan Tah (Bayern) and Edmond Tapsoba (Newcastle). Before the long injury, Martin Terrier was among top 5 French wingers and he was brought in from Rennes for 20 million, while Aleix Garcia from Girona came for 18 million to strengthen the middle of the field. With almost the same team and with one year of experience, there is no reason to believe that Xavi Alonso and his men won‘t be a title contenders again. The undefeated season won‘t be repeated off course, but how the team reacts after the first defeat (when it comes) will be telling. They will now face the best European clubs in the Champions League, which will stretch their team even more and those are the potential problems for the upcoming season.Neverloosen win another trophy after penalty dramaContenders from the shadows Bayern Munich‘s transformation both in the dugout and in the players‘ section was more noticable than Borussia‘s but don‘t be fooled: Dortmund made some big decision too. They started by announcing a new CEO next year (but effectively he is working already) – a club‘s legend Lars Ricken. Then when Edin Terzić (un)surprisingly left as a manager, they promoted his assistant and former BVB midfielder Nuri Sahin (he is more inexperienced than Kompany) to his place. The Millionaires had a really good transfer window in which they changed the older players (Fullkrug, Hummels, Reus) with younger (and cheaper ones) like Maximilian Beier, Waldemar Anton, Yan Couto and of course Serhou Guirassy. They lost Ian Maatsen and Jadon Sancho, who came on loans and had a great finish of the season in which Borussia played in the Champions League final but were too expensive to keep on a permanent deals. They also got back Niklas Sule. The former Bayern and Germany international never went away, but was unused for most parts of the last season due to his fitness issues (overweight) and lethargy. So far he looks like a younger version of himself and could be like a new signing if he continues like this. Expect Borussia to be in the mix for the top four places, while title challenge might come too soon.One German international out, other in: Borussia sign BeierStuttgart has been a revelation last year, just like Brest in France, Bologna in Italy and Girona in Spain. But for all those clubs, hard days are ahead. They will be closely monitored by their opponents (and better prepared for them), they have lost some good players and they will test the depth of their squads with participation in the Champions League. Guirassy, Anton and Ito are gone to rivals Dortmund and Bayern but they brought in adequate replacement like strikers Ermedin Demirovic and Denis Undav. It‘s just a question will they manage to be the good ones and how much time will they need to blend in to the team. The answer to that question will determine their season. They can go from another European football season to a mid-table disappointment.A defeat for Bayern – Simons is staying at LeipzigLeipzig is the most consistent performer in Bundesliga for years. A well-run club, a ‘well-oiled machine‘ whose only aim is to play the Champions League football year and year out promises to be in the mix for the top four again. They were sixth in 2018 and never fell lower than fourth since. Yes, they lost EURO 2024 hero Dani Olmo to Barcelona, but new signing Antonio Nusa’s attacking threat joins an already impressive list including Xavi Simons (back for another year on loan from Paris Saint-Germain), Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda. Not to mention that Olmo wasn’t really a key player in Leipzig, as he started fewer than 40 Bundesliga games across his final three seasons in the club. He will be missed, but that‘s not considering a ‘key departure‘ in Leipzig.They let Guirassy go but the other barrell of the shotgun stays putThe lower parts of the leagueAfter the top five candidates for the Champions League, there are a number of clubs like Frankfurt, Freiburg, Hoffenheim, Union Berlin and Wolfsburg who are aiming for the Europa League spot. Like every season, some of them will do it, others will disappoint and even be in a relegation battle (like Borussia Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg last year) and there will be a club who will either surprise or even mingle into the Conference League come May (like Mainz or Heidenheim). Freiburg will start the season without a long-time coach Christian Streich for the first time since 2011, so Julian Schuster‘s new regime will have a strong impact on the team and it should be a smooth transition for the club from the Black Forrest. Danish coach Bo Svensson, known for his good work in small cash-strapped club like Mainz will have an opportunity to guide Union Berlin into the contention for the European football again. Monchengladbach sinked to the lower ends of the Bundesliga since Marko Rose left for Dortmund and the first season under former Bayer coach Gerardo Seaone was terrible. Somehow he managed to survive the sack, but if things start going wrong, expect his firing before January. As always, the main relegation candidates are always the ones which come from Bundesliga 2, which means Kiel and St. Pauli, while Bochum escaped the relegation by defeating Fortuna Dusseldorf in the relegation/promotion playoffs. Their transfer window so far suggests that they will be in a survival battle this year as well.BUNDESLIGA – MATCHDAY 1Friday21:30: (5.40) M’ gladbach (4.00) Leverkusen (1.62)Saturday16:30: (2.30) Augsburg (3.45) Werder (3.05)16:30: (3.20) Freiburg (3.45) Stuttgart (2.10)16:30: (1.67) Hoffenheim (3.90) Holstein Kiel (5.00)16:30: (2.05) Mainz (3.45) Union Berlin (4.10)16:30: (1.30) RB Leipzig (5.90) Bochum (9.00)19:30: (1.75) Dortmund (3.80) Eintr.Frankfurt (4.60)Sunday16:30: (6.50) Wolfsburg (4.40) Bayern (1.50)18:30: (2.25) St.Pauli (3.40) Heidenheim (3.20)***odds are subject to change***
