On Friday the Bundesliga comes out of a short winter break – what we can look forward to when it restarts.
18 game days left and one catch-up game
First of all: Here’s to 18 more match days. Because the league took a break shortly before Christmas after the 16th round. There is also the catch-up game between 1. FC Union Berlin and FC Bayern Munich. Speaking of Bayern: The Munich team opens the rest of the season on Friday (January 12, 2024, from 8:30 p.m. in the full audio report and in the live ticker at sportschau.de) with a home game against 1899 Hoffenheim.
New German champion in sight
It remains to be seen whether the German record champions will ultimately win the title, which would be their twelfth in a row. Because maybe there will be a new master in May for a change.
Bayer Leverkusen goes into the new year as the frontrunners. The “Werkself” put together a first half of the season that they have never experienced under the Bayer Kreuz. 13 wins, three draws, no defeat in the Bundesliga. That makes 42 points after 16 games. There were also six victories in Europe Leagueand the team confidently made it to the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup.
Leverkusen is the Bundesliga’s new starting record holder with 25 competitive games across the season without defeat. To put this into perspective internationally: In the other four top leagues in Europe (England, Spain, Italy, France) there is no team that is still undefeated.
Of course, the title fight is still exciting. Because Leverkusen is just three points ahead of Bayern in the table, who still have a game to catch up on. The direct duel between the two opponents will take place on February 10th. Probably without Leverkusen’s top striker Victor Boniface – the Nigerian was injured during training with the national team before the Africa Cup.
For 39 years: The 1,000 goal mark could fall
The Bundesliga players have scored an impressive 480 goals in the first 143 games of the season, an average of 3.4 per game. After 16 matchdays, it is the highest-scoring Bundesliga season in 38 years.
If the goals continue like this, the 1,000-goal mark would be broken at the end of the season for the first time in 39 years. There has rarely been any boredom in the games so far. Only five of the 143 games of the season so far have ended 0-0.
Kane could replace Lewandowski
Two players in particular stand out. These are Harry Kane from FC Bayern and Serhou Guirassy from VfB Stuttgart. The Englishman, who only arrived in the summer of… Tottenham Hotspur moved to Munich, equaled Robert Lewandowski’s historic Bundesliga record (2020/21) with 21 goals after 16 match days – and there is still Bayern’s catch-up game in Berlin. Extrapolated, Lewandowski’s record from that season (41 goals) is wobbling worryingly. Guirassy has scored 17 goals in 14 games.
For comparison: Last season, Niclas Füllkrug and Christopher Nkunku took the top scorer with 16 goals each. Kane and Guirassy are already on top of that.
Exciting relegation battle expected
Even if the fans of the affected clubs certainly see things differently, at least the neutral spectators can look forward to an exciting relegation battle. The last three teams in the table – 1. FSV Mainz 05, 1. FC Köln and Darmstadt 98 – are tied on points with ten points each. Union Berlin (13), VfL Bochum and Werder Bremen (both 16) are also still in the middle of a relegation battle.
New players on the way
Not much has happened on the transfer market yet, but that could change at any time between now and February 1st. Borussia Dortmund is working on the return of Jadon Sancho Manchester United. Meanwhile, FC Bayern are said to be interested in former Leipzig player Nordi Mukiele (Paris Saint Germain) and to Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) to be interested in.
Leipzig and Frankfurt are already one step further. As Emil Forsberg’s successor, the North Macedonian Eljif Elmas comes from Italy’s football champions SSC Napoli to the fourth-place team in the Bundesliga, and Eintracht Frankfurt has secured the services of Donny van de Beek (Manchester United) and Sasa Kalajdzic (Wolverhampton Wanderers) secured.