Bundesliga in the star check: return of fans, lack of derby and a great promise from Lothar Matthäus

This is the game day

Rule number 1: Bavaria wins! Or?

Bundesliga, the 59th. The league is getting on in years. And as it is in old age: You can’t get rid of annoying habits. For everyone who can’t know or can’t remember: there is no Rule that Bayern Munich must become German champions. Other clubs can also win the “salad bowl”. But hardly anyone can imagine that one of the other 17 clubs could really spoil the full championship decade for Munich at the last minute. Except for Lothar Matthäus. The problem is that Bayern have the best first team, but “in terms of width” RB Leipzig and “definitely” BVB have more to offer. Even Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Gladbach would be a little better away from the first team, according to the record international. So then, your people from Leipzig, Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Gladbach – off with the Bavarians in 6th place! Even Lothar doesn’t want to go that far. But he actually expects a three-way battle! With pleasure.

All hopes for Nagelsmann!

Another spark of hope can be beat from the fact that Bayern are starting the season with a coach who has not yet won a title for the first time after what seems like forever. Julian Nagelsmann is perhaps the only one on Säbener Strasse who doesn’t know what it feels like. Is he missing the winning gene? Too good to be true. But when, if not before the first game day, should you put such nonsense into your head?

As is well known, Nagelsmann is not the only newcomer to the coaching bench. Half of the league starts with new trainers. What should you do if you run out of money because of the corona ghost games, the talents (apparently) are missing and the stars (really) no longer become? Try a new trainer! After all, the national team does the same. Whether everything really fits is one of the more exciting questions of this season. The first coach discharge this time may hit one of the prominent coaches. And should Nagelsmann really not get along so well … oh what!

The league needs new derbies

Ok, there are the classics like the opening game this Friday (8.30 p.m. / live on DAZN, Sat 1 and im stern-Ticker). Gladbach versus Bavaria – the sounds like Bundesliga. The derbies have always brought a lot of salt to the soup and the mood in the stands. But that’s not far off: Schalke is gone, so no Ruhrpott derbies. Werder is gone, the Northern Derby has been relegated to the 2nd division. The only thing left is the Rhine derby, because the Cologne team saved it in relegation. Ok, there is also the capital city derby. Only: Hertha versus Union lacks the flavor and tradition. That can of course still be. Maybe all you need is a great ticket: “Capital City Hassel” or “Berlin Boxing”? But let’s leave that before we give anyone an idea.

The picture for the start of the season

Corona remains an issue

That Corona will also disrupt this season despite all vaccinations, unfortunately proves even before the first whistle. The situation is particularly precarious at FSV Mainz 05. After Karim Onisiwo last Saturday, two other players and a member of the coaching team were infected with the corona virus. In addition to the four infected, the health department ordered eight other professionals and two assistant coaches to be immediately isolated at home. The game against RB Leipzig on Sunday (3:30 p.m. / live on DAZN and in stern-Ticker) should still not be on the brink. Wait! There have also been positive cases recently in other clubs, including Ihlas Bebou from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and striker Sasa Kalajdzic at VfB Stuttgart.

“Skyfall” – switch over from time to time

Much tradition has migrated from the first to the second division. Isn’t it just logical that the previous almost-sole-league broadcaster does the same thing? Only the 2nd league will run completely live on “Sky” in the future. One floor higher, the Unterföhringen pay station only has the Bundesliga Saturday and the few game days during the week (Tuesday / Wednesday). If you want to watch Friday and Sunday games, you have to switch to the DAZN streaming service, which is gaining more and more of the Bundesliga cake. 106 games can only be seen live there. The DFL calls this competition, the inclined TV fan additional costs, because the all-rounder now finally needs two football subscriptions. By the way: Even the three free TV games of the season (on the 1st, 17th and 18th matchdays) are in an unusual place – on Sat 1. There, too, today Gladbach against Bayern. (You can find an overview of the football broadcasts here)