Bayern eye title four-peat; Dortmund, Schalke aim for Champions League
Bayern Munich hope to break new ground in the Bundesliga by winning their fourth championship in successive years. If they can, they will exacerbate the fear that the Bundesliga is becoming a one-horse league.
If the last three seasons are anything to go by, this campaign will be a procession: Bayern Munich won by eight points last season and by 14 over Borussia Dortmund the year prior. The gap in 2012-13 between Bayern and everyone else was a remarkable 25 points. The spectacle was over well before spring.
As with most monopolized European divisions, the championship is lessening in value for the Bavarians; the staple diet perhaps of domestic football, but pales in comparison to European success. And that's exactly what is capturing the focus of Bayern and coach Pep Guardiola who is entering the third -- and final -- year of his contract in Munich. But fears of a schism inside the club are palpable.
There's an antipathy between the coach and local journalists, while the Bayern boss and his closest allies are just as flustered about incessant chat around his future at the club. Amid suggestions Manchester City is his next destination, Guardiola bullishly shrugged off questions from the German press.
"I will never be a problem for Bayern Munich," the former Barcelona coach said last month. The debate is exhausting -- and that's evident in Guardiola's manner in front of the media. His agitation on the touchline and his petulant spat with Nigel de Jong during the Audi Cup was reflective of the strain.
Similarly, commenting publicly on Bastian Schweinsteiger's fitness issues over the last three seasons was a strange decision. It's unusual to see Guardiola let down his emotional guard as much as this. He's had his confrontations with players and Matthias Sammer, the club's sporting director, in the past within sporting boundaries.
Sammer, to his credit, has shown good leadership to protect Guardiola. He has stepped in for recent press conferences, a move still unlikely to appease the media, and continues to be the driving force of the organization.
What is clear: the fracture behind the scenes threatens to destabilize Bayern, more so in the hunt for the Champions League than for the league title. Unresolved issues around Guardiola's future, the sideshow that it ostensibly brings, will be a cloud over the team's preparation for the new season.
For example, Bild has floated the idea that Guardiola wasn't satisfied with the transfer politics at the club. Sammer has pushed through some signings, whilst Technical Director Michael Reschke has been the architect of a few other key transfers.
Bayern lost the German Super Cup to Wolfsburg a fortnight ago, but kicks off the league season against Hamburg on Friday. The club is navigating rough waters at the moment, but aims to be the first club in the Bundesliga age to win the title four times in a row.
Hope springs eternal in the Ruhrpott
Promises of success -- and the arrival of two new coaches -- at Borussia Dortmund and Schalke have reinvigorated both clubs ahead of the new season.
Borussia Dortmund finished seventh last season as the Jürgen Klopp dynasty came to brusque halt. But Thomas Tuchel's long-awaited return from time away from the game has refuelled one of Germany's top clubs, his methodical, studious approach a contrast from the high-octane culture there under Klopp.
Tuchel has earned a burgeoning reputation as one of Europe's top coaches despite his only first-team experience coming at mid-table Mainz. In a few short weeks, Tuchel has imprinted his own ideas on last season's squad, honing improved build-up from the back and playing with fluidity on the attack.
While Roman Bürki and Gonzalo Castro have signed, the performance of canny attacking-midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be pivotal to Dortmund's fortunes. The Armenian looks sharp, confident and hungry to get on the goal front -- he has scored four goals in two games on the eve of the new season.
Impressive in a 5-0 win over MSV Duisburg in the German Cup, Schalke is an unknown package with Andre Breitenreiter beginning his tenure this summer. The $11 million signing of Johannes Geis was a serious coup for under-fire sporting director Horst Heldt, while Bremen's top scorer last season, Franco di Santo, arrived to bolster attacking options.
Schalke has moved full-circle in their strategic approach this summer, swapping the conservative Roberto Di Matteo for Andre Breitenreiter, a young German coach who favors an attacking style of play. And with Julian Draxler, Leroy Sane, Max Meyer and three hungry, goal-scoring forwards, Breitenreiter has the tools at his disposal to lift Schalke out of the doldrums.
Both Ruhrpott clubs will be desperate to return to the Champions League next season by finishing in the top-four, but have strong competition standing in their way. Bayer Leverkusen, for one, has an outstanding combination of prodigious talents and a coach who demands a high-pressing nature with lots of goals.
Wolfsburg are pre-occupied with holding on to key man Kevin de Bruyne who broke the club's assist record last season and is high on the transfer list of Manchester City. In truth, the club's ability to edge closer to Bayern will probably hinge on the few days before the start of the season and whether De Bruyne remains at the club.
Neither club are expected to break up the status quo, but the race for the Champions League is sure to be one of the most enthralling facets to the league this season.
