Nothing showed off Bayern Munich's Bundesliga dominance like what they did this fall
Bayern Munich had an awful start to their 2016/17 Bundesliga campaign. Players were hurt and tired, they lost Pep Guardiola, brought in Carlo Ancelotti, overhauled their entire approach and had to deal with a league that was deeper than ever. A surprise RB Leipzig surge, backed by huge corporate money, challenged them for the top spot all fall. It got so bad that Ancelotti told the press that his players basically had to start caring.
And yet here they stand, nearly halfway through the season and going into the winter break with a three-point lead atop the league.
Bayern Munich's grip on the Bundesliga is so tight that near disaster has relegated them to being only slightly better than the rest of Germany.
It's a testament to the strength of the club, which was never really in doubt, but had never really been on display like this. Everyone expects Bayern to dominate Germany, and when they're really good, there's seemingly no limit to how badly they can roll over everyone. They have the biggest support in the country, by far the most money, the best infrastructure and pretty much the best everything else. But it's been their ability to reign supreme even at their worst that has really highlighted their current dominance.
Everyone, even within the club, admitted that the start of the season would be rough. Guardiola and his system are so unique and deeply embedded that a change takes time. Ancelotti, an unquestionably brilliant manager, needed time. So Bayern, and most everyone else, were prepared for a rocky beginning -- but even they didn't think it'd be so bad that the usually mild-mannered Ancelotti would have to question his players' commitment publicly.
And then there were injuries to Arturo Vidal, Arjen Robben, Kingsley Coman, Jerome Boateng, Xabi Alonso, Thiago Alcantara, Renato Sanches, Franck Ribery, Javi Martinez and Holger Badstuber. Bayern Munich had so many players out at points, and good players at that, that their injured team could challenge for the league title.
On top of all that, Borussia Dortmund remained a good team, besting Real Madrid in their Champions League group. RB Leipzig went 13 matches undefeated to start the season, too. Eintracht Frankfurt and Cologne proved to be solid teams and Hertha Berlin stayed top four contenders. The Bundesliga is strong.
All of that has the making of a Bayern Munich fall. Maybe they sort things out in the second half as they adjust to life under Ancelotti and get fit to make a run at the league title, but they should be in a hole and looking up at at least one, if not two or three teams in the Bundesliga, right? You would think so.
Instead, Bayern Munich went into their last match before the winter break against RB Leipzig level with the upstarts for first place in the Bundesliga. It was a top-of-the-table clash and a brutal challenge for a team that was still short-handed and hadn't quite found their form. And they absolutely throttled Leipzig.
It took 17 minutes for Thiago Alcantara to pounce on a shot off the post and knock it home. Xabi Alonso added a second goal and then Leipzig had a player sent off before Robert Lewandowski converted a penalty to make it 3-0 before halftime.
The match that was supposed to test Bayern Munich and at least punish them a bit for their poor fall was instead over by halftime. It was a rout.
If Bayern Munich can stumble their way through four months of the season as almost everything goes wrong for them and still top the league, then what chance does the rest of the Bundesliga have?
The Bavarians only figure to get better in the spring. Their lead will grow and they'll win the Bundesliga yet again.
And that's after the winter break. During the break they look set to add Niklas Sule from Hoffenheim, bringing another of Germany's brightest young talents to the Allianz Arena. Another Hoffenheim player, Sebastian Rudy, could also be on his way to shore up the Bayern midfield.
Nothing stops Bayern Munich. They're a machine, even when it all goes wrong, and might as well live atop the Bundesliga. And they're only getting better, as per usual.
