Bayern Munich are back on top of the pile having missed out on the title last season. They lead by three points from Borussia Dortmund, but last year’s champions are still in the hunt for the championship.
Free of European commitments, Jurgen Klopp’s men will be hopeful that they can push on and win the title once more. They endured a slow start to the season but came back strongly, and have beaten Bayern at the Allianz Arena to make the point that they will not give up their crown lightly.
Bayern though, have been solid if not quite sensational so far this season, and have already lost four times. They lost their first match to Borussia Moenchengladbach, but then won six in a row, and didn’t concede in eight. That defeat to Dortmund, as well as reverses to Hannover and Mainz, have meant that the title race is very much wide open going into the second half of the season.
Schalke, just behind the duo, are also in the hunt, despite losing Ralf Ragnick at the start of the season due to stress. They have continued to battle well and are showing that after a disastrous campaign last time out, they are still in the race. A 5-0 win over Werder Bremen last time out underlined their credentials.
Moenchengladbach are the surprise package, sitting fourth in large part thanks to the mercurial talents of Marco Reus, one of Europe’s hottest prospects and the latest in a string of young German midfielders to catch the eye of the continent’s leading clubs.
Bayer Leverkusen have not quite been the team they were last time around, but Robin Dutt’s men are making good progress in Europe and are well placed to qualify for the Europa League next season.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the campaign so far has been the issue of mental health problems. In a country where football is not only the main sport, but the number two and three as well, the pressure is intense. Italy has food and opera to distract them, England has rugby and tennis. Other countries have various other sports and past times, but Germany is possibly more interested in the sport than any other – hence the attendances in German football are higher than in other comparative leagues.
This season, with Ragnick’s depature from Schalke, and the incident of Breno, the Bayern Munich defender arrested for alleged arson, and apparently suffering from mental health problems, this issue has been cast into focus. It is not long after the tragic death of Robert Enke, the Hannover goalkeeper, and this is a country getting to grips with this issue. With a referee recently found before a game having slit his wrists, Germany is learning to focus less on what happens on the pitch than the goings on off of it.
