Bundesliga 19/20 Season Preview

The German Top Flight or the Bundesliga starts this weekend as the defending champions Bayern Munich kick things off tonight at the Allianz Arena against Hertha Berlin. The Bundesliga is renowned for its promotion of youth, heavy pressing and infrastructure. This preview will be on teams who are the top four teams in the league and where they will likely finish come May next year. 

• Bayer Leverkusen

After missing out on the Champions League spots on the final day of the season in 2017/18, Leverkusen took it to the last day of the season again but they made it into the top four with 58 points. Three points more than 5th placed Borussia Mönchengladbach. Peter Bosz, who was previously in Borussia Dortmund, steadied the ship when he arrived at the BayArena after Leverkusen endured a slow start to last season. Bosz has signed four new players with Kerem Dimirbay, their biggest money signing from Hoffenheim. However, they lost their playmaker in Julian Brandt, who moved to Borussia Dortmund but lots of their key players are still at the club from Jonathan Tah, Leon Bailey and Kevin Volland. The key player for Leverkusen this season will be Kai Havertz. The 20 year old scored 17 goals and made 3 assists in 34 games in the Bundesliga last season and with Brandt now gone, more responsibility will be on his shoulders to replicate or better what he done last season. With Gladbach, Frankfurt and Hoffenheim significantly weakened, Leverkusen will likely finish in the top four again. 

• RB Leipzig 

Since their promotion to the Bundesliga in 2016, RB Leipzig have grown strength to strength in their three seasons in the top flight with two top four finishes, even getting in their first ever season. They may be very unpopular across Germany as they are owned by the company Red Bull and have sister clubs in Salzburg and New York but their formula has worked for them since the club's inception a decade ago and has raised questions with German Football and their clubs should operate. Under Ralf Rangnick, Leipzig finished 3rd with 66 points. Despite finishing 12 points behind champions Bayern Munich and 10 points behind Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig had the best defence in the Bundesliga, conceding just 29 goals with 16 clean sheets. Three less goals conceded than Bayern and fifteen less than Dortmund. They have brought in Julian Nagelsmann, one of the most talented young managers around, to take over the rein at Red Bull Arena after his success with Hoffenhiem including qualifying for the Champions League in 2018. Nagelsmann's success with Hoffenhiem has made people believe that Leipzig will challenge for the title this season and it's easy to see why. They have the best defence in the league, they have signed well bringing in Ademola Lookman from Everton and Christopher Nkunku from PSG and still have their key attacking player in Timo Werner, who has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich. It may be too soon to expect this much from Nagelsmann at Leipzig but his record and Leipzig's show that they could challenge Bayern for the league in the coming future. 

• Borussia Dortmund 

Borussia Dortmund missed out on the Bundesliga title by just two points which shows progress after finishing 4th in 2018 but considering that the Bayern team they faced is not as rampant as they were in the recent past, there is still that feeling of disappointment. Lucien Favre came in after the frantic reigns of Peter Bosz and Peter Stoger. The Swiss transformed BVB into a quick counter-attacking side that is going to create a lot of chances which they did; Dortmund scored 81 goals in the Bundesliga last season, just seven goals less than Bayern Munich. Marco Reus looked rejuvenated last season, scoring 17 Bundesliga goals and creating 8 assists as well as Paco Alcácer who scored 18 goals in just 11 starts. As the club captain, Favre will be looking that Reus can stay fit throughout the season as the German international is prone to injuries. The one to watch this season will be Jadon Sancho. The young England international burst into the scene last season scoring 12 goals and creating 14 assists, the most in the Bundesliga. Dortmund have spent big this summer, bringing in Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brandt to supplement the attack. They have also brought in Nico Schulz to play at left-back and Mats Hummels to provide experience to a defence that is while talented, very naive. From the experiences of last season, Dortmund will be looking to get one better this season as the Black and Yellow hope to win their first league title since 2012.

• Bayern Munich

Since 2012, Bayern Munich has had a strong hold on the German top flight, winning in the last seven years in a row. Last season was the first time since 2012 that Bayern were involved in a genuine title race as the Bavarians endured a slow start under head coach Nico Kovač. The Croatian was able to put a run together that was enough to take Bayern towards the finish line as they won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal. However, the events from last season which included an early exit in the Champions League, has forced Bavarians to freshen up their squad in order to compete in all fronts this season. They have let go Mats Hummels and have waved goodbye to club icons Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben, who has been instrumental to the club's success over the past decade. They have signed defenders Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez but have found it difficult to get their top attacking targets from Leroy Sané to Ousmane Dembélé as they have gone for Croatian winger Ivan Perišić on a season long loan deal. Despite that, Bayern still has the best squad in the Bundesliga by far with Serge Gnarby and Kingsley Coman both looking to be key contributors this season, Joshua Kimmich being one of the best right-backs in Europe, Robert Lewandowski being one of the best strikers right now and the midfiled talents of Thiago, Leon Goretzka and Corentin Tolisso. Bayern Munich will make sure that no one topple them this season that despite the improvements of their rivals, the Bavarians are still the team to beat and are likely to finish as champions again.