da brdice： Germany has taken the football world by storm ever since the unbelievable dominance of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and the all-German Wembley final. Some have come out and said that the Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world. That is a true statement. Perhaps the Barcelona era is over and Bayern’s rule is about to commence. Nevertheless, two teams do not make an entire league and what has the Bundesliga shown since 2003? Has the German League been as tough as all the other major leagues in the last decade?
da dobrowin： The Bundesliga sells the most tickets and has the fullest stadiums than any other major league. The cheapest ticket for a game costs just over £10 whereas in the Premier League it ranges to about £28. German fans can watch every home game of their favorite team with a season ticket of just £207, whereas in England it will cost around £468.Therefore, the Bundesliga is a successful business, but the financial crisis has not affected Germany as badly as other countries. Furthermore, good football is not all about business. It also has to do with spectacle, trophies and goals.
Since 2003 only one German team has won a major European title. That is Bayern who won the Champions League this year by beating Dortmund 2-1. Italy counts three championships (two Champions Leagues for AC Milan and one for Inter Milan), Portugal three (one Champions League and two Europa Leagues for Porto), England four (one Champions League for Liverpool, one for Manchester United and one for Chelsea, who also won the Europa League this year) and Spain eight (three Champions Leagues for Barcelona, one Europa League for Valencia and two for both Sevilla and Atletico Madrid). Even Russia counts two Europa Leagues (one for CSKA Moskva and one for Zenit).
The German national team is undoubtedly a phenomenal team. However, they haven’t won a single major title since the Euro 1996 in England. Spain have won three, Greece, Italy and France have won one each.
The team is always dominating in the first games until it reaches the semi-finals. The problem perhaps lies within the possibility that the squad doesn’t run the extra mile to get to the top, something that Bayern didn’t do as well at the final last year against Chelsea. In order to win the whole thing, sometimes the team needs to push a little harder in the end and let passion do the rest.
The German national is one of the most consistent teams in the world. They always make a good impression in every tournament they compete on. However, every team needs to show something to claim they are the best, and that is a trophy. Joachim Low’s crew have yet to show a recent one.
Although the Champions League final was between two German teams it is interesting to see how the other Bundesliga teams did in Europe this year. Shalke were eliminated on the Champions League Round of 16 by the impressive Turkish champions, Galatasaray. However, Monchengladbach were eliminated on the Champions League play offs by Dynamo Kyiv (third in Ukraine). Bayer Leverkusen (third in Germany), Monchengladbach and Hannover got eliminated from the Europa League’s Round of 32 by Benfica (second in Portugal), Lazio (seventh in Italy) and Anji (third in Russia) respectively. Stuttgart (German Cup finalists) were also eliminated on the Round of 16 by Lazio.
Germany is currently on second place of the FIFA rankings, right behind Spain. However, on the UEFA rankings there are only two German teams on the Top 20 list (Bayern second and Shalke 15th). Spain has four (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia and Atletico Madrid), England four (Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool), Italy three (Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus), France three (Lyon, Marseille and PSG) and Portugal two (Porto and Benfica). Ukraine (Shakhtar) and Russia (CSKA Moskva) have one spot each.
Bayern had an amazing season this year as they won the treble. In the league they gathered 91 points, won 29 out of 34 games and lost only one. That is an incredible feat as the Italian and English champions played more matches and still gathered fewer points. That however might show that the Serie A and the Premier League were more competitive and gave the champions a harder time. Nevertheless, the Spanish champions, Barcelona, played 38 games, won 32, and gathered 100 points.
The Bundesliga’s top three scorers netted a total of 65 goals in total. In England they made 70, in Spain 108 and in Italy and France they scored 68 each. Although Germany is behind on this one it is interesting to see how close they were to England, Italy and France keeping in mind that every German team played four games less.
Furthermore, the Bundesliga was not a one man show in the past decade. Bayern may have won the title more than any other team (six times) but there have also been other various champions such as Werder Bremen (2004), Stuttgart (2007) and Wolfsburg (2009). Dortmund have also won it two consecutive times (2011 and 2012). In France and Portugal there has been a one man show with Lyon winning it for seven consecutive times (2002-2008) and Porto only losing it to Benfica twice (2005 and 2010).
The German league has also graced the world with great players such as Mesut Ozil, Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose and Oliver Bierhoff who won the hearts of many international clubs’ fans. A great league is also one that introduces talent to the world.
Jurgen Klopp’s amazing work with Dortmund and Pep Guardiola’s arrival at Bayern are strong indicators that the two Bundesliga giants are not planning to slow down any time soon. However, it would be unfair for Spain to say that Germany has the best league in the world. In present time, German football had an amazing year. In past time, Germany was not as dominant as other major leagues. In future time, we’ll see…