Image: imago images / kolbert-press
Defending champion FC Bayern Munich is the championship favorite, followed by clubs such as runner-up RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund. Title mission number 32 begins for Bayern with their new coach Julian Nagelsmann on Friday evening (8.30 p.m.) with a guest appearance at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
At the start of the season, Adi Hütter from Vorarlberg is at the fore, who after three years at Eintracht Frankfurt is now head coach in Gladbach and can rely on Stefan Lainer and Hannes Wolf – two of 26 Austrians in the German upper house. Incidentally, the top 5 clubs of the past season are all starting the new season with new coaches. The Leipziger, who lost Nagelsmann to Bayern, try their luck with Salzburg's master coach Jesse Marsch. Dortmund also relies on an ex-Salzburg resident, Marco Rose, who came from Gladbach. At Wolfsburg, the former Bayern star Mark van Bommel is now in charge of the sport, as Oliver Glasner moved to Frankfurt and replaced Hütter there.
Nagelsmann starts in Munich with season 1 after David Alaba, the ÖFB team player had left Bayern for Real Madrid after twelve years. From the 34-year-old coach, nothing less than the championship, it would be the tenth in a row, as well as the recapture of the DFB Cup is expected. “You have to win the first game in Gladbach. Then the fans are friendly too,” said Nagelsmann on Bayerischer Rundfunk.
With the exception of defender Dayot Upamecano (for 42.5 million euros from Leipzig), the German record champions have not yet struck big on the transfer market. Due to the corona crisis, however, the money is no longer so loose. Nagelsmann relies on record striker Robert Lewandowski, who netted 41 times in the preseason.
Leipzig first challenger
Leipzig sees itself as the first Bayern challenger. Neo-Coach Marsch recently said: “I think we have perhaps the highest quality squad in the league. Basically we could have two Bundesliga teams. If we can develop this potential to the full, then we can have a lot of fun together . ” The US-American who came from Salzburg before the season can fall back on the services of the ÖFB legionaries Konrad Laimer and Marcel Sabitzer.
However, speculation about change is circulating about RB captain Sabitzer, who only has a one-year contract in Leipzig. At the beginning of the league there is a guest appearance in Mainz on Saturday, where three Austrians are under contract with Karim Onisiwo, Kevin Stöger and David Nemeth. TSG Hoffenheim (Stefan Posch, Christoph Baumgartner, Florian Grillitsch), 1. FC Köln (Florian Kainz, Louis Schaub, Dejan Ljubicic) and Arminia Bielefeld (Manuel Prietl, Christian Gebauer, Alessandro Schöpf) each have three Austrians in their squad. .
The last non-Bayern champion was BVB in 2012. Neo-coach Rose should lead the reigning cup winner to new heights, namely to the ninth championship title. Rose will be missing the English star striker Jaden Sancho, but Torgarant Erling Haaland should be kept. Dortmund's opening opponent is Frankfurt, Eintracht with coach Glasner and the Austrian national players Martin Hinteregger and Stefan Ilsanker made a false start in the DFB Cup (0-2 at third division Waldhof Mannheim, Hinteregger flew off).
Wolfsburg starts the new season under Van Bommel and with the Austrian exports Pavao Pervan (goal) and Xaver Schlager in the squad against newly promoted VfL Bochum. The second climber, Greuther Fürth, is visiting VfB in Stuttgart, where ÖFB striker Sasa Kalajdzic is in focus after his 16 Bundesliga goals last year. Most recently, the 24-year-old made headlines with a positive corona test, as did the Mainz Onisiwo. Corona will therefore remain a constant topic in the Bundesliga – not least because of the audience debate.
