FEATURE | 4 things to look out for when German football returns after the winter break
The Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga are over for the winter, they will both return in the new year with the Bundesliga on January 10 and the second division a week later.
Like your favourite TV series taking a mid-season break, German football has left us with a lot to think about and a lot to look forward to. So here are four things to look out for when it returns:
The Bundesliga title race
At one point, the title race looked to be over by November as Bayern Munich continued to just steamroll teams, but as we approached the break a loss against Mainz allowed Bayer Leverkusen to return to within touching distance of the Rekordmeister.
Leverkusen began to hit their stride in recent weeks and have seemed to shake the rust off that they were experiencing in the earlier part of this season. Florian Wirtz is looking like one of the best players in the league, while Patrik Schick has finally begun to hit form once again, on top of this Victor Boniface will return from his injury in the new year.
Both return in the new year with difficult fixtures as Leverkusen will look to hand Borussia Dortmund their first home loss in the league this season, while Bayern also travel to bogey team and historical rival Borussia Mönchengladbach, who have been on the up.
The duo then face each other on the 15 of February and will likely set up a blockbuster end of the season.
The promotion race in the 2. Bundesliga
The second division in Germany always delivers surprises and shocks, and this season seems no different. The 2.Bundesliga is at the halfway stage of the season and as things stand only five points separates ninth and first and due to the nature of the league with anyone being able to beat anyone, the gap is rather small.
The teams currently occupying the promotion spots are 1.FC Köln, whose recent form has seen them rise from midtable into first place. Karlsruhe who after a strong start to the season, hit a rough patch but have recovered and Hamburg who sacked head coach Steffen Baumgart and still remain in contention of possibly, finally, returning to the Bundesliga.
The biggest surprises of this season has been both Elversberg and Magdeburg. Elversberg are in their second season in the 2.Bundesliga after coming off back-to-back promotions from the Regionalliga. If, like me, you had no clue where Elversberg actually is, it is near Saarbrücken in the Saarland. They are only three points off of first having lost against Schalke on the final matchday before the winter break.
At the same time, Magdeburg have been average since they returned to the 2.Bundesliga nearly three years ago and look to be flying under the radar under Christian Tietz.
Mid-table teams fighting for Europe
Usually, the European places in the Bundesliga are taken by the same six to seven teams, however, this seems to be changing. Between third and 11th there is only a difference of six points. Mainz and Werder Bremen, who usually languish in the middle of the pack find themselves in the European places or just outside of them on goal difference. Both rounded off their years in style as Mainz beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 and Bremen beat Union Berlin 4-1.
It goes to show the work that both Ole Werner and Bo Henriksen have done at their respective clubs, as only a year ago, Mainz in particular were fighting relegation.
On top of this, there has been the revivals of both Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsburg this season. Die Fohlen have especially turned their form around under Gerardo Seoane, ending the year with two successive wins for the first time since March 2022.
With how close everyone is to one another, there will likely be some big-name casualties come May missing out on some European spots.
Can Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig (somewhat) redeem their seasons
If you are a club that lacks ambition (looks towards the Signal Iduna Park) finishing in the top four is still possible so it would be deemed a successful season but for a club that has ambitions, qualifying for the Champions League should be the bare minimum. At the moment, Dortmund are not even meeting that requirement, yes they are still in Europe but they will not reach the final again. So, die Schwarzgelben really need to turn their form around to give anyone some hope.
Injuries have not helped Dortmund in the first half of the season, but they still lack a true playing style under Nuri Şahin and if they ever want to try and chase down the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, they need an identifiable style as well as most importantly, consistency (something that is alien to Dortmund).
The other underperforming team this season is Leipzig. The first two months of the season could not have gone better, they were winning and had a rock-solid defence. Then November hit, and the wings came off (you get it, Red Bull gives you wings…) and although they have been able to hold onto their top four positions, their performances have been tragic with big losses to Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich. On top of this, they were the first team eliminated from the Champions League.
Unlike Dortmund, Leipzig can still end the season with some silverware as they are in the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal, so they can still have some success, but with how Leipzig had been playing before the winter break, they will not win the Pokal.
Luckily for them, Jürgen Klopp begins his new role as Global Head of Soccer for Red Bull this week. Leipzig will likely be Klopp’s main focus in the opening weeks as he helps former player Marco Rose work out a solution to their problems. Whether that be their leaky defence, or their inability to provide Loïs Openda, Benjamin Seško and Antonio Nusa with any meaningful service.
