Will Bayern Munich’s 10th consecutive German Bundesliga title finally be broken? There is not one strong challenger, but two. At the time of the 21st round, 3 teams tied for the highest score.
As of round 21 of the 2022-2023 Bundesliga, 1st place Bayern, 2nd place Borussia Dortmund, and 3rd place Union Berlin all have 43 points. The rankings were split by goal difference. The gap between them is not too big. 4th place Freiburg has 40 points, 5th place RB Leipzig has 39 points and 6th place Eintracht Frankfurt has 38 points. There are two teams with equal points as Bayern, and three more that are less than two games apart.
This is the composition that came about when Bayern lost in the 21st round. On the 18th (Korean time), Bayern lost 2-3 at Borussia Monchengladbach. Mondnegladbach has recently shown a close relationship with Bayern while maintaining a tight match. Moenchengladbach’s regular goalkeeper Jan Sommer moved to Bayern, but he couldn’t stop his former team’s midfielders from scoring three goals.
The sending off of Bayern defender Dayo Upamecano in the 8th minute was decisive. Coach Julian Nagelsmann harshly told the referees his dissatisfaction with the referee, and then issued an apology after the game.
Bayern is particularly sluggish in the second half. The second half schedule, which resumed after the ‘2022 Qatar World Cup’, started with 3 draws in the beginning. After that, it seemed to be on the right track after winning 2 consecutive league victories and 4 consecutive victories including cup competitions, but could not withstand the encounter with the natural enemy. The second half result is only 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss.
While Bayern faltered, the two teams chased after winning streaks. Dortmund’s team competitiveness has also recovered as Sebastien Allet, who missed the first half due to testicular cancer, succeeded in making a touching return to active duty. Offensive midfielder Julian Brandt and defensive midfielder Emre Chan, who had a lot of ups and downs, are showing outstanding performance recently. It is a streak of 6 consecutive wins in the second half of the league and 8 consecutive wins including cup competitions.
The most recent match against Hertha BSC on the 20th also saw Dortmund win 4-1. The quick striker Karim Adeyemi was resurrected as a result of the return of Alle, and he scored one goal and one assist that day, including the opening goal. Here바카라, attacking resources such as Donnie Marlon, Marco Reus, and Brandt took turns driving goals.
Union’s competition for the lead is amazing. Union, which was promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2019, settled in 11th in the first season, then gradually raised the rankings to 7th and 5th. We supplied high-quality players one by one at each stage and secured a competitive edge suitable for the first division.
If they continued their winning streak in the 21st round, Union could have risen to first place. Union ended up in a 0-0 draw with underdog Schalke 04 on the 19th. Union’s 5-game winning streak in the second half of the league came to an end. Schalke, at the bottom, achieved a 0-0 draw in the last four games in a row, and Union was also involved in Schalke’s ‘one-point strategy’.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern has dominated for the last 10 consecutive seasons. Originally, it was the strongest team in the league, but it was not easy to win consecutive championships for such a long time. The existing longest winning streak was a total of three winning streaks, and the last was in the 2000-2001 season. After that, Bayern and Borussia Dortmund won two seasons in a row, but they always got caught in the third season.
Originally, Bayern was the overwhelming power in the Bundesliga, but there was always a surprise enough to win alternately with other teams. Due to the financial stabilization policy, the gap between the strongest team and the upper middle ranks is smaller than in other leagues, and the fact that the annual schedule is 4 fewer games than other leagues was good for a team with a relatively thin squad to cause a surprise. So even in the 21st century, teams that are hard to imagine now, such as Bremen in the 2003-2004 season and Stuttgart in the 2006-2007 season, had a chance to recapture the top. On the other hand, in the past 10 years, Bayern has grown in size and collected top-notch players in the league, leaving Dortmund, which once emerged as a rival, largely out of step.
The upcoming weekend is important if Union’s whirlwind this season is to lead to championship competition until the end. On the 27th, Bayern and Union will face off. If Union can win, the top spot will fluctuate again.