The Supercup debacle in their own stadium against Leipzig encouraged Bayern’s competition. Although superstar Harry Kane will now go hunting for goals for Munich, three teams can dream of the title in addition to the record champions. The claims are also formulated somewhat more clearly than in the past – an overview of the challengers.
Borussia Dortmund – new attempt with less respect
Only one goal was missing in the end. If Borussia Dortmund’s last game of the season had not ended 2-2 against Mainz, but 3-2, the reigning German champions would already be BVB. But “would be, would be, bicycle chain“, as Germany’s record national player Lothar Matthäus once philosophized, does not bring any titles, at most with a delay. Edin Terzic recently reflected on the events in April and May of this year and came to the understandable conclusion that his team actually did an outstanding job in 2023 had.
In the only defeat (in Munich) and the four draws, in addition to nervous weakness, there was indeed an incredible amount of bad luck. Dortmund had won eleven times in a row at home before the Mainz game, often enthusiastically. Terzic now says: “We’ll try again next season. If there was anything positive about this wasted opportunity, it’s our determination to draw strength from it, to grow from it.” Most recently in the gym, Terzic explained again that “perhaps we have discarded this huge respect for the word of being able to become German champions”. And before the start, his clear message is: “We will do everything to be able to celebrate something at the end.”
Sabitzer and Nmecha have to compensate Bellingham
The team, which will make another attempt at the championship from the first game of the season on Saturday (19.08.2023, 6.30 p.m., audio live stream and live ticker at sportschau.de), is after the emotional chaos of May 27th on a large and stayed together. Marcel Sabitzer (who was loaned to Manchester United from Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (VfL Wolfsburg) and Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Mönchengladbach) are now in place of Jude Bellingham (to Real Madrid) and Raphael Guerreiro (Bayern Munich).
The dress rehearsal in the DFB Cup with the 6-1 win at Schott Mainz was not a real touchstone, but at least provided the insight that Sébastien Haller is in excellent early form. He had missed Dortmund in the first 15 games of the previous season because of his cancer, who knows whether BVB would not have scored the missing point long ago with him on board.
RB Leipzig – The threats are getting more intense
“It was a special night. But it was just the beginning.” The words that Dani Olmo found after his great performance with three goals in the Supercup final at Bayern were probably not meant as a threat. Olmo is actually known to be a very humble person and therefore probably just wanted to express that this brilliant 3:0 happened very early in the season. But if his performance and that of his peers is just the beginning, then it could be a season to remember.
Because even if that could hurt Bayern, not everything has worked out at RasenBallsport despite the sporty waddle. After the departure of four top performers – Dominik Szoboszlai went to Liverpool for 240 million euros, Josko Gvardiol to Manchester City and Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea, Konrad Laimer also switched to Bayern – Nkunku’s successor Lois Openda (came for 38.5 million Euro from Lens) not yet integrated.
With the fast and dangerous Benjamin Sesko from Salzburg, there seems to be another stroke of luck from the long-term supplier from Austria. Sports manager: Max Eberl no longer tries to downplay RB after the triumphs in the Cup and Supercup: “We have now won two trophies in a short time, that’s just an expression. We woke up the competition: Okay, they’re closed calculate.”
Bayer Leverkusen – lost pace, gained experience
Leverkusen showed courage last year with the then inexperienced coach Xabi Alonso and after the false start they were rewarded with a strong comeback and qualification for the Europa League. Now the coach, who is already being traded at Real Madrid as a possible successor to Carlo Ancelotti (takes over Brazil in 2024), has completed full pre-season training at Bayer for the first time – and his team seems extremely stable and strong in attack.
With the 55 million transfer from Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa, speed was lost, but enormous experience was gained: Granit Xhaka from Arsenal is immediately the clear leader and a fixed point in midfield, Jonas Hofmann from Mönchengladbach guarantees game intelligence and scorer points on the right wing, while attacking left-back Alejandro Grimaldo was the best assist in the Portuguese league at Benfica last year.
Boniface brings physique to the fore
Then there’s the highly interesting transfer up front: Nigerian Victor Boniface from sensational Belgian club Saint-Gilloise immediately exudes an extreme goal threat, is physically very present and almost makes you forget that Patrik Schick, a top-class attacker in Europe, has been out injured for almost a year .
Strong in the end and physically present: Victor Boniface from bayer Leverkusen
Sports director Simon Rolfes explains the squad restructuring in Kicker as follows: “We analyzed self-critically where we lacked elements, experience, stability. Boniface poses a challenge for every defender just because of his physicality.” The first testers of Bulle Boniface are Willi Orban and his colleagues from RB Leipzig on Saturday (08/19/2023, 3:30 p.m., audio live stream and live ticker at sportschau.de). The game will also provide the first clues as to who can really challenge Bayern this season.