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People have been put off watching the Bundesliga due to the fact that more often than not, Bayern Munich end up being champions. With their 27 league titles, there’s no doubt that they are the dominant force, however, don’t let that put you off.
The 2016/17 campaign saw the race for a Champions League spot go down to the wire. German football fans have been treated to the rise of RB Leipzig, who finished runners-up to Bayern Munich, while Borussia Dortmund clinched the third automatic qualification spot with just three games remaining.
As a result, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim finished fourth and although they lost to Liverpool in the qualifying round, they’ve been a breath of fresh air under the guidance of Julian Nagelsmann.
As Bayern Munich look to clinch their sixth consecutive league title, we take a look at the teams who look to contend for a place in the 2018/19 Champions League come the end of the season.
#1 Bayern Munich
Starting with the reigning champions, Bayern Munich are once again favourites to clinch the Bundesliga title, which would be their second under Carlo Ancelotti. However, it’s the Champions League title that the fans really want.
They last won the European competition in 2013 when they beat German rivals Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley. Since then, however, Bayern have arguably failed to live up to their expectations in Europe – given their club stature and worldwide status.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League would be a catastrophic disaster. It would arguably be their worst campaign, given the last time they finished outside the Champions League spot was in 1995, finishing the season in sixth.
It’s important that Robert Lewandowski remains fit for the whole campaign. Without the Poland international, it’s difficult to see where the goals are going to come from, taking into account Thomas Muller’s poor performance last season.
#2 Borussia Dortmund
By Borussia Dortmund standards, they’ve had a poor couple of years since their last Bundesliga title in 2012. We’ve seen Thomas Tuchel come and go since the departure of Jurgen Klopp to Liverpool, but now there’s a new head coach in charge.
After taking Ajax all the way to the Europa League final – where they lost to Manchester United – Peter Bosz was appointed as Dortmund coach over the summer and despite the departure of Ousmane Dembele, they’ve got a squad that’s certainly capable of qualifying for the Champions League.
Become the world’s second record-breaking transfer, Dembele departed for Barcelona but since receiving €105m, they’ve only spent €7m of that on Manchester City’s Jadon Sancho.
That just goes to show the squad that they have. Bringing in Omer Toprak, Mahmoud Dahoud and Maximillian Philipp, Borussia Dortmund have strengthened in every area of the pitch. The breakthrough of Christian Pulisic is one to watch this season while their ability to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the club will certainly pay dividends.
It can't be said for sure whether Dortmund can challenge Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title, but they’ll certainly looking strong for the Champions League spots.
#3 RB Leipzig
Despite their backing by Red Bull, the likelihood of anyone predicting just what they achieved last season is pretty small. To come up from the 2. Bundesliga and actually challenge Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga for the majority is pretty extraordinary.
They may have lost on the opening day this season, but without any significant losses over the summer, they could well, and ought to be challenging for a Champions league spot once again.
The arrival of Bruma has strengthened their wide areas while Kevin Kampl is an outstanding addition to their midfield who will fit well into Ralph Hasenhuttl’s system.
Even if you take Timo Werner out of the team, they’ve got goals. And so, it’s possible that they could qualify for the Champions League once again.
#4 Schalke 04
Another Bundesliga team with a new coach is Schalke 04. Poor under Markus Weinzierl last campaign, Schalke appointed Domenico Tedesco in the summer and although they have taken three points from a possible six in this campaign, his footballing philosophy is looking positive.
Beating RB Leipzig 2-0 on the opening day of the season, Tedesco beat RB at their own game, employing a high line of press, not allowing the opposition on the ball. And even with their third choice forward, Schalke still managed to put two goals past last season’s Bundesliga runners-up.
Talented Frenchman Amine Harit arrived at the VELTINS-Arena over the summer - and he already looks a bargain. And given that Tedesco likes his team to play out from the back, Schalke waved goodbye to Benedikt Howedes, who joined Juventus. Given his experience, that could prove to be Schalke’s downfall.
But, from what fans have seen so far, things are already looking better than last season.
#5 Bayer Leverkusen
After a poor campaign last season, finishing 12th, Bayer Leverkusen are another ‘big’ team that won’t be playing European football this campaign. What looked so promising under Roger Schmidt collapsed given that he had no plan B, but with Heiko Herrlich now at helm, they could perhaps go back into the top echelons of European football.
Perhaps a poorer transfer period than they had hoped, Bayer Leverkusen made some interesting moves on deadline day. Newly-capped Greece international, Panagiotis Retsos, arrived from Olympiakos and the arrival of Argentine forward Lucas Alario could turn out to be signing of the season.
The 24-year-old has the capability to score the goals needed to fire Leverkusen back into the Champions League, and although competition is there from Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen, Leverkusen should have enough to see their Bundesliga rivals off.
