Last night I watched bottom of the table Hertha Berlin snatch an injury-time point against league leaders Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
The 2-2 draw at the Olympic Stadium was the perfect illustration of the leaders form this season and of the home sides surprising fall.
Unpredictable league
The Bundesliga has proved such an unpredictable league. The previously mentioned Hertha were at the top of the table last season, only to break records this season as the team with the least points at this stage of the season.
Hertha’s dramatic downfall just shows the unpredictability of the Bundesliga. Hertha won’t be challenging for the league title this season but there’s no shortage of other contenders for the crown.
Early leaders
Current leaders Bayer Leverkusen are in strange form. They are top after winning eight and drawing eight in the league this season. They started strongly last season but faded after their defensive naivety got the better of them. Their final position of 9th was disappointing.
This season they have added the experience of Sami Hyypia to their back-line and the Finn has brought a solid foundation which was missing last season. A key factor to their improvement this season however is the appointment of wily veteran coach Jepp Heynckes. He knows the Bundesliga inside and out and surely Leverkusen won’t repeat last seasons disappointing fall down the table.
Champions struggling
Last seasons champions Wolfsburg are nine points behind league leaders Leverkusen in 8th place. Last season’s surprise champions are struggling for consistency this season. Their record breaking striking partnership of Grafite and Edin Dzeko are always a threat but Brazilian Grafite hasn’t managed to score at the same rate this season.
Dzeko on the other hand has managed seven goals this season. The Bosnian is being linked with top English sides Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United. It would be a devastating blow to lose the big striker and if they do then I doubt they will be able to retain their Bundesliga crown.
Bavarian unrest
The giants of German football Bayern Munich have suffered a poor start to the season under the experienced Louis Van Gaal was seen as the coach that would come in and make Bayern the Bundesliga champions once again. It hasn’t yet worked out but in recent weeks there has been signs of improvement.
Their 4-1 victory at Juventus in the Champions League proved that the side are improving. Bayern have won their last four games in all competitions and will be hoping to close the gap on league leaders Leverkusen. Bayern will cut Leverkusen’s lead at the top of the table to two points with a victory at Bochum later today.
Perennial challengers
Hamburg are perennial challengers at the top of the Bundesliga. Last season they finished fifth despite being in the title race until the last few rounds of the season. HSV have the quality in their squad to challenge for the Bundesliga title. The likes of Marcus Berg and Mladen Petric are big threats up front and winger Eljero Elia is also highly rated. Similar to Dzeko at Wolfsburg, Elia has been linked with a big money move with Liverpool and Atletico Madrid both believed to interested in signing the Dutchman.
Other challengers
Second place Werder Bremen and third place Schalke finished in midtable last season but both are looking far stronger this season. They have challenged for the Bundesliga title in past seasons and they could be the outsiders for the title. Former giants Dortmund are not completely out of the race either in seventh and in sixth place last seasons surprise package Hoffenheim have a very dangerous front line in Demba Ba, Vedad Ibisevic and Chinedu Obasi. Neither team can be ruled out but they would be outsiders at the moment.
Hard to predict
The Bundesliga is probably the hardest league in Europe to predict. The title race always seems to involve four or five teams and it would take a braver man than me to predict a winner. Every team in the current top eight have a chance of lifting the trophy at the end of the season. At times the Bundesliga is a delight to watch and I’m just glad that the league is so unpredictable.
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