The Decline Of The Bundesliga

The Decline Of The Bundesliga Bada Akintunde The Decline Of The Bundesliga 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.

Posted by Hodie J