Bayern Munich have dominated the German Bundesliga in record-breaking fashion over the past two years, and have consecutive league titles to show for it. And fresh off their World Cup triumph, Bayern’s substantial contingent of German national team players will be hungry for more trophies this upcoming season, while the rest of the league tries its hardest to keep up.
Will the Bavarians’ Bundesliga dominance continue, or can the likes of Borussia Dortmund or Schalke regroup to put Bayern’s reign under threat?
As the Bundesliga season nears its kickoff on August 22, don’t forget to check out our preview of the upcoming English Premier League and La Liga seasons as well. Between that and our ongoing coverage of the MLS playoff race, there is lots of soccer to follow in the weeks ahead.
[sc:Soccer ]German Bundesliga Betting Preview and Prediction
Favorite – Bayern Munich
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Led by their innovative manager Pep Guardiola and the core of Germany’s World Cup-winning team that includes captain Philipp Lahm, Golden Glove-winner Manuel Neuer and finals hero Mario Gotze, the two-time defending champs are priced at an eye-popping -900 to complete the three-peat this season.
“FC Hollywood” did lose a couple of its stars to Madrid in the summer. They sold promising young midfielder Toni Kroos to Real and allowed last year’s top scorer, Mario Mandzukic, to leave for Atletico. But Mandzukic’s exit was necessary to make way for their new marquee signing, Robert Lewandowski, scorer of 20+ league goals in each of his last three seasons with Borussia Dortmund.
Kroos’ departure will also be softened by the return of Thiago Alcantara, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. With Javi Martinez and Bastian Schweinsteiger still on board, Bayern shouldn’t be noticeably weaker in midfield, or anywhere else on the pitch for that matter as they are well-prepared for another run at the title.
High-Value Sleeper – Boussia Dortmund
Dortmund was decimated by injuries to key players last campaign. Ilkay Gundogan, Neven Subotic, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukasz Piszczek all missed large chunks of the season, causing Dortmund to fall a massive 19 points behind champions Bayern by the end of last season.
The BVB also suffered insult to injuries when they lost another one of their stars to main rivals Bayern. Undeterred, Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has reloaded once again this summer, with the signings of strikers Ciro Immobile – Italy’s top scorer with 22 goals last season – and Adrian Ramos to offset the loss of Lewandowski.
With the added depth to an already talented attack led by Marco Reus (16 goals and 14 assists last season), Dortmund’s price of +700 makes them a valuable sleeper to win a third title in five years.
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The Race for the Champions League – Schalke vs Leverkusen
The last three seasons in Germany have been a two-horse race for the title, as well as that all-important third and final automatic Champions League place. The two clubs who’ve been contesting that spot – Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen – will once again be in the driver’s seat to take that all-important position in Europe’s prestigious club tournament.
Schalke finished third last season and will be considered the slight favorites to do so again after they successfully kept the services of wunderkind Julian Draxler despite the advances of larger clubs over the summer. He will be joined by captain and World Cup-winner Benedikt Howedes and prolific striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who should return strong after an injury-plagued campaign last year.
Similarly, Leverkusen also kept hold of its best defender, playmaker and striker in Emir Spahic, Heung-Min Son and Stefan Kiessling for the upcoming season. Last season, Leverkusen was in the top three places in the standings for virtually the entire campaign, but they faltered in the last 10 weeks which cost manager Sami Hyypia his job. New boss Roger Schmidt will have a talented squad at his disposal, which includes on-loan Schalke defender Kyriakos Papadopolous.
Key Match
April 4-5 – Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich
Mario Gotze may be a national hero for winning Germany the World Cup, but he still won’t be given the warmest welcome in his old home at the Westfalenstadion. He and Robert Lewandowski will face their former team to give the German equivalent of “El Clasico” an added dimension of drama. And let’s not forget how this can also have some serious ramifications on the title race.
Writer’s Prediction
Bayern Munich won’t run away with the title as they have in the past couple years. Dortmund still possesses an impressive squad and should be healthier after the rash of injuries they suffered. But Bayern have too many weapons and too much quality not to win it all again. Take Bayern to claim their third straight Bundesliga title.
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