Bayern's Supercup win spells trouble for Dortmund

The 69,000 full-capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena was witness to the nail biting 90 minutes of football between two of the most revered clubs in Germany i.e. arch rivals Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The rivalry in recent times has been dominated by Dortmund, the latest clash being the 5-2 rout in the DFB Cup final at the Olympic Stadium. However, Bayern finally managed to banish the Dortmund jinx by cruising to a victory after two goals by Mario Mandzukic and Thomas Mueller in the opening 15 minutes. Although, the season is yet to begin, a preliminary analysis of the squads throws much light on the way the Bundesliga title race is going to shape up.

Jurgen Klopp’s knack for shaping youngsters into match winners is an admitted fact, but the transfer market is one area where they would like to improve. Bayern with its staggering economic advantage seems to have raced way ahead, with quality signings such as the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Mario Mandzukic, Claudio Pizzaro, Dante, Mitchell Weiser and goalkeepers Lukas Raeder and Tom Starke, as replacements for the veteran Jorg-Butt.

On the contrary Dortmund’s star midfielder Shinji Kagawa’s departure to Manchester United and Lucas Barrios’ move to the Chinese Super League has created a vacuum in the attack, and it would seem that the arrival of Marco Reus from Monchengladbach and Julian Scheiber from Stuttgart could plug the gap in the midfield. Another cause of worry for the ‘Black Yellows’ is Manchester United being in the hunt for in-form striker Robert Lewandowski. Therefore, on paper the experienced Bavarian attack clearly has an edge, with the return of vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger from injury.

However, Bayern’s central defence has been a cause of concern ever since Lucio left for Inter Milan and Van Gaal took over the reins. With Chairman Ruminegge’s unwillingness to shell out a potential 40 million Euros for starlet Javi Martinez, the failure to sign Mats Hummels and Benedikt Howedess, the departure of Demichellis after the 2011 season, David Alaba and Rafinha’s injuries, the defence has only taken a turn for the worse.

Needless to say, Neven Subotic, Hummels and Lukasz Piszczek have been satisfactory for Dortmund. Putting together that weak link would settle most of Bayern’s troubles. A cross sectional view would see these two sides competing with each other for the title and Schalke and Monchengladbach competing for the remaining two Champions League qualifying spots. However, the truth of all this remains to be seen only after the action kicks off on the 24^th of August.