Bayern Munich’s coach Pep Guardiola gestures during their German soccer cup (DFB Pokal) first round match against Preussen Muenster in Muenster.
DPA/Berlin
Bayern Munich will be aiming to win the Bundesliga crown for the third year running after a record-breaking season which also saw German Cup, World Club Cup and UEFA Super Cup titles.
In coach Pep Guardiola’s maiden season in the German top flight, Bayern set a series of league records and wrapped up their 23rd Bundesliga title in record time at the end of March.
Bayern have now pinched Poland striker Robert Lewandowski from main rivals Borussia Dortmund, while Spanish defender Juan Bernat (from Valencia), defensive midfielder Sebastian Rohde (Eintracht Frankfurt) and keeper Pepe Reina (Liverpool/on loan at Napoli) have further strengthened a formidable squad. Central defender Holger Badstuber is also back after a 20-month injury absence.
Yet Guardiola could face a more difficult challenge in keeping Bayern at the top in his second season at the helm.
Dortmund are likely again to be the strongest challengers, while the neutrals will be hoping for a firmer showing from some other candidates to prevent another Bayern runaway or a two-team title race.
Guardiola’s immediate tasks are to restore the physical and mental fitness of Bayern’s World Cup players, while finding defensive cover for Javi Martinez, who is out for at least six months with a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Bayern had seven players with World Cup winners Germany, while Dutch winger Arjen Robben was among others on international duty in Brazil.
Making sure his players retain their hunger after the club and international triumphs will be one of the most difficult tasks facing Guardiola, who has lost midfielder Toni Kroos to Real Madrid and has several injury and fitness concerns.
Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is out of Friday’s opener at home to Wolfsburg and Thiago Alcantara is still sidelined, both with injuries carried over from last season, while Franck Ribery has been hampered by a knee injury.
“We need time. I am certain we will have a bit of a problem until the winter break,” Guardiola said.
Bayern have not done particularly well in seasons following World Cup triumphs, as former playing great Franz Beckenbauer has pointed out.
Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player in 1974 and coach in 1990, said in a column for dpa global media service he could dispel fears the Bundesliga could become boring.
“After the 1974 title, we at Bayern had a major collapse and finished only 10th the next season,” he said.
“After the 1990 World Cup, Munich did finish runner-up in the Bundesliga, but that season also wasn’t very exhilarating.”
For challenges to Bayern, one need look no further again to Dortmund, who go into the season boosted by a 2-0 win over the champions in the Supercup.
After winning the league titles in 2011 and 2012, Dortmund have been twice runners-up to Bayern at a distance of 25 points and 19 points respectively in the last two terms.
Coach Juergen Klopp, in his seventh season in charge, welcomes strikers Ciro Immobile from Torino and Adrian Ramos from Hertha Berlin to compensate for the loss of Lewandowski, and has plenty of other reasons for optimism for the season which starts for Dortmund on Saturday against Bayer Leverkusen.
Attacking midfielder Marco Reus has returned from injury which kept him out of the World Cup, while midfielder Ilkay Guendogan is training again after a whole season sidelined with a back problem.
Other patients from last season, including defender Neven Subotic and Jakub Blaszczykowski, are also back in contention, while Dortmund have further strengthened with the signings of defender Matthias Ginter from Freiburg and striker Ji Dong-Won from Augsburg.
Champions League participants Schalke and Leverkusen (in the Champions League play-offs) will again be hoping to be at or near the top, while Wolfsburg - with former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner and attacking midfielder Aaron Hunt from Bremen among signings - and Borussia Moenchengladbach can also be expected to do well.
Schalke have added midfielder Sidney Sam (from Leverkusen) and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Mainz) among others to their ranks, while Leverkusen welcome midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu (SV Hamburg), striker Josip Drmic (Nuremberg) and Brazilian defender Wendell (Gremio) among others.
Midtable could be tightly packed again, with teams like Hoffenheim and Mainz hoping for European qualification, while VfB Stuttgart, Hamburg, Werder Bremen, Hanover and Eintracht Frankfurt are looking to put the relegatiuon worries of last season behind them.
However, the battle to avoid relegation could again be fierce, with newly-promoted Cologne and Paderborn, who are in the German top flight for the first time, seeking to establish themselves.
Paderborn, whose Benteler Arena ground has a capacity of only 15,300, will be favourites to go straight back down but can look to Augsburg as role models.
Augsburg were also seen as relegation fodder after gaining promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2010-2011. Since then they have spent three seasons in the top flight, finishing eighth last season.
