Page 16 - Soccer360 Issue 105

2024
TITLE RACES
Thomas Müller’s goal on the ninth matchday made him the only Bayern player to score across 15 consecutive seasons and to play in 16 different seasons for the club.
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern Munich have won the last 11 Bundesliga titles. Die Roten have 33 national championships in all - 24 more than anyone else - and it is fair to say that they are
by far the biggest and most successful
club in Germany. In recent years, Borussia Dortmund and, to a lesser extent, RB Leipzig have given their best at breaking the monopoly Bayern have on the Bundesliga
- but not to any great success. Last season looked as though Dortmund would finally end Bayern’s record-breaking streak. But
a calamity of errors on the final day of the season saw the trophy heading south to Bavaria once again.
Dortmund have been largely out of sorts this year, with Leipzig also struggling to
challenge as they have been able to do in recent years. But two more unlikely sides have taken up the mantle. The Bundesliga has historically seen Bayern troubled for
a while each year by a less fancied team before forging ahead at the top. Stuttgart have surprised everyone by challenging near the top, but Bayer Leverkusen have gone one better by leading the table for most of the season and proving nearly impossible
to beat.
Much of that success has been put down to the arrival of Xabi Alonso as head coach. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder has taken his tactical genius as a player onto the sidelines with consummate ease and is now in charge of one of the most attractive teams in Europe to watch, turning Leverkusen around in double quick time.
16 SOCCER360
‘THE LEVEL OF
COMPETITION
MAY FINALLY
BE BEING
INCREASED -
ALBEIT AMONG
A NUMBER
OFEQUALLY
WEALTHY
CLUBS’
ABOVE:
Will Bayern Munich’s grip on the Bundesliga title be coming to
an end?
Ludovic Ajorque of Mainz experienced a unique misfortune by missing two penalties in one match against Union Berlin, a Bundesliga first.
Harry Kane scored two goals in
the game against Stuttgart on matchday 15, his second making him the quickest player to reach
20 Bundesliga goals. The England international has reached the landmark in just 14 games – that’s seven fewer matches than the previous record holder, Uwe Seeler.