Bayern Munich is still a force that is difficult to overcome in the Bundesliga

Bundesliga Overview Before the New Season

The Bundesliga will officially return this weekend with the opening match between defending champions Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena Stadium.

The first season under the leadership of Vincent Kompany was considered a success, when Bayern won the silver cup with a gap of 13 points over Bayer Leverkusen.

Harry Kane continues to be the brightest star, scoring 26 goals in 31 matches to defend the Golden Boot award, despite being 10 goals behind his explosive debut in the 2023-2024 season.

Before the new season, Bayern have significantly increased their force after the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup defeat and a long-term injury to Jamal Musiala. Luis Diaz arrived from Liverpool after an impressive season with 17 goals, while centre-back Jonathan Tah came as a free agent from Leverkusen.

Meanwhile, Leverkusen have entered the Erik ten Hag era with many fluctuations. Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Granit Xhaka and Lukas Hradecky have left, while Amine Adli is facing the possibility of moving to Bournemouth. Malik Tillman, Jarrell Quansah and Ibrahim Maza are expected to fill the void.

Eintracht Frankfurt also parted ways with Hugo Ekitike (moved to Liverpool), replaced by Jonathan Burkardt. Borussia Dortmund look forward to a great season with coach Niko Kovac, while Leipzig started to rebuild with Ole Werner after finishing only sixth.

In addition, Stuttgart aims to break away after winning the DFB-Pokal, while the return of Hamburg and the fiery derby with St. Pauli will certainly be the highlight.

Bayern Munich and the rest of the Bundesliga

After regaining the Bundesliga title two rounds early last season, Bayern Munich have increased their title to 12 in the last 13 seasons, since Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund domination with two consecutive titles (2010 2011 and 2011-2012).

Therefore, it is no surprise that the "Gray Tigers" continue to be the number one candidate for the Bundesliga title in 2025-2026. Bayern is not too active in the transfer market. However, the two new signings Luis Diaz and Jonathan Tah immediately left their mark in the 2-1 victory over Stuttgart in the German Super Cup.

The Colombian star has just had the best season of his career, averaging 2.1 chances created per 90 minutes in the Premier League, behind only Bayern's Michael Olise (2.88 in the Bundesliga). He also leads Liverpool in the number of times he has won the ball in the final third (147 times), a quality that is suitable for Kompany's high pressing style of play.

Diaz's appearance became even more important when Bayern parted ways with Kingsley Coman (sang Al-Nassr), todayy Sane (to Galatasaray) and especially legend Thomas Muller, who left the Allianz Arena after 756 games to join Vancouver Whitecaps.

Despite playing just 19 games last season, Muller has contributed 15 times to goals (8 goals, 7 assists), ranking sixth in the league.

Bayern's current attack is still extremely fearsome. Last season, they were only 2 goals behind, equal to the record of 101 goals/season set in the 1971-1972 campaign. Under Kompany, Bayern have scored 2.91 goals per game, only behind the explosive period with Hansi Flick (3 goals per game).

The focus is of course Kane. After 2 seasons, the English striker has scored 86 goals with an expected index of 70.7 xG, surpassing all the strikers in the top 5 European national championships.

Kane is aiming for his third consecutive Bundesliga Golden Boot. If he can do it, only Gerd Muller and Robert Lewandowski (7 times) will have a better record than him.

If Bayern miss, Ten Hag's Leverkusen will be considered the strongest candidate to take advantage of the opportunity.

Ten Hag called for patience in the process of rebuilding after a series of important departures. In particular, Wirtz - the player who has left his mark on 67 goals in the last 2 seasons at BayArena.

Along with Wirtz, Xhaka, Frimpong and Tah, Leverkusen lost four of their six most important players last season. Currently, only Grimaldo and Hincapie are in this group.

However, they still kept Patrik Schick, the striker who scored 21 goals in 31 matches in the Bundesliga 2024-2025 and had the highest expected efficiency (xG) in the tournament (+8.3).

Schick's impressive form has helped Leverkusen - the team ranked 5th in xG (58.5) - become the second highest scoring club in the tournament (72).

Meanwhile, Kovac's Dortmund are third in the championship candidate list. Since Kovac replaced Nuri Sahin in January, Dortmund have significantly improved their defense, from 1.72 goals conceded and 1.35 xGA per match to 1.21 goals conceded and 1.19 xGA.

Their attack is still heavily relied upon by Serhou Guirassy, who scored 13 goals in the Champions League last season and continued to explode with 5 goals in the FIFA Club World Cup.

This past summer, Dortmund was quite quiet in the transfer market, with the most notable contract being Jobe Bellingham - Jude Bellingham's younger brother - from Sunderland. After many years of instability, Dortmund's practical goal is to consolidate their position in the top 3 Bundesliga.