Can Bayern Munich Return to Glory?
On Friday, German champions Bayer Leverkusen open up the Bundesliga season against rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach. The club will set out to prove that last year’s run to the Bundesliga title was anything but a Cinderella story. Leverkusen became the only German team to go through a league season undefeated.
Amazingly, Leverkusen’s squad returns largely intact. Worries that the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Fringpong, and Robert Andrich would move onto to bigger clubs did not materialize. Perhaps even more important, coveted manager Xabi Alonso is back for (at least) one more year. Despite it all, Leverkusen begin the season clear underdogs to long-time juggernaut Bayern Munich, who will be desperate to return to the top. However, until there’s evidence of a real dip in form for the champions, it’s hard to imagine they won’t at least run Bayern to the wire this year.
Bayern Munich responded to last year’s disappointing trophy-less campaign by adding former English Premier League stars Michael Olise and João Palhinha. While the new players should impress, Bayern lost center back Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United and has failed to pry Tah from Leverkusen’s grasp, despite a summer-long attempt to close the deal. That said, the team has looked very impressive, especially in an attacking sense, in recent cup and friendly wins under new manager Vincent Kompany. Munich begin their title challenge on the road to Wolfsburg on Sunday.
