The Bundesliga title race is hotting up in Germany, and it's quite refreshing to say that for a change. In partnership with Media City Qatar.
The Bundesliga title race is hotting up in Germany, and it's quite refreshing to say that for a change. Even with its array of stars and sizzling hot atmospheres, the top division is often predictable.
ADVERTISEMENTEuropean royalty Bayern Munich have won the Meisterschale ten times in a row, but with six weeks left in the season, the title race is wide open.
Yes, Bayern are currently top of the league. But this time, it feels different. There's real competition, and it's exciting.
Not since 2012 has a team who aren't Bayern Munich won the country's top division. Back then, Dortmund and Jurgen Klopp won back-to-back titles in 2011 and the season that followed. Bayern Munich has been the dominant side of the decade and has won 10 titles in a row. They have won by over 10 points on seven of those occasions. They've also won two European Cups in that time.
No other team has even come close. They are an absolute juggernaut of European football.
There's a chase at the top this season, and finally, Dortmund looks like they could win it again. They were top of the league before they fell to a 4-2 defeat in Munich. In that match, Bayern made a statement to remind everyone who is boss, at least for now.
Off the pitch, Bayern shocked the continent by sacking manager Julian Nagelsmann. At 35 years old, he's one of the youngest managers ever to coach at the elite level of European football. Unfortunately, he was fired while on a skiing holiday in Austria, and reports suggest he wasn't even aware that his job was in danger. Bayern replaced him with compatriot and former manager Chelsea Thomas Tuchel, who delivered the club's second Champions League trophy win.
There's been positive feedback to his appointment in Munich after Tuchel's first game was that 4-2 win over Dortmund. Could a new manager be enough of a boost to secure that 11th consecutive title in May.
In Berlin, Hertha is a consistent challenge for a top place in the league, but this time smaller club Union has made a splash in this campaign.
With 12 games to play, they are third in the table and only four points behind Bayern. Even though they only have a slim chance of winning the title, it's still a miracle they have any chance at all at this stage.
"To be hanging onto the title race for so long is beyond anyone's wildest dreams," revealed Kyle Walsh, a contributor for Union Englisch, "it's clearly the best season Union have ever had."
"I didn't think winning the title would be possible, but then again, I didn't think our achievements in recent seasons were possible. We have qualified for European football, even reaching the Bundesliga in the first place. This team loves to surprise."
Down at the bottom of the table, the battle to survive relegation is getting tense, too. The relegation format in the Bundesliga is slightly different from Europe's other top leagues. While the teams that finish in the bottom two still go down automatically, the team that finishes 16th engages in a playoff with the team that finishes first in Bundesliga 2. Creating an exciting climax to the season as the motivation to be promoted from the second division is pitched against the desperate desire to survive relegation.
At the moment, Hertha Berlin is in 16th position in the Bundesliga, but at the bottom end of the league, so it's all to play for. Only eight points separate the bottom six teams. Therefore, it is realistic to assume that anyone could be involved in a relegation disaster.
It's fantastic to see things this close for a change. Will Bayern be knocked off their decade-long perch? Or will the league's dominant team prevail once again? It's all to play for in an exciting Bundesliga league, where everything is on the line at the top and bottom of the table in Germany.