By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Bundesliga has been eminently more watchable this season and Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich will have global appeal.
There will certainly be plenty of interested observers on Merseyside with Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso the hot favourite to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Both claimed victories last weekend to set up a classic six-pointer at the summit. To go top, Bayern have to become the first team to inflict defeat on Xabi Alonso’s men in any competition all season. A Werkself victory, however, will open up a five-point gap over the defending champions. But this isn’t just any old title race.
Any team that reached this point in the season still undefeated must be doing something right and Alonso’s side have been a pleasure to watch.
But Saturday night’s showdown at the BayArena will still present Alonso with a monumental test – and it’s one he must pass.
The numbers behind the two teams so far this campaign are remarkable. Only the Pep Guardiola’s Bayern sides of 2013/14 and 2015/16 have ever had more points on the board than Alonso’s Leverkusen this term (52), while Thomas Tuchel’s team have made the sixth-best start of any club after 20 games. Never before has a team with 50 points at this stage not been top of the standings, nor in fact failed to lift the Meisterschale.
Bayern are of course spearheaded by 24-goal division top scorer Harry Kane, but also had the wily Thomas Müller and youngster Aleksandar Pavlović – both homegrown youth products – to thank for their come-from-behind victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend. It was Müller’s 500th win in 690 games for his boyhood club. Number 501 in Leverkusen will put him in pole position for a record-extending 13th Bundesliga title.
As for the Werkself, there’s simply no stopping them so far. Tuesday’s success over VfB Stuttgart saw them through to the DFB Cup semi-finals and reach a remarkable 30 games unbeaten in all competitions in 2023-24. Leverkusen have demonstrated the strength in depth in their squad built around a central core of Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka, while Alejandro Grimaldo – who scored in the 2-2 draw in Munich in September – trails only Bayern’s Leroy Sané for assists across the division. The stars will come out at the BayArena on Saturday night, but who will shine brightest?
By the time that game kicks off, Borussia Dortmund will know where they stand after having hosted SC Freiburg on Friday evening. BVB will hope to welcome back Jadon Sancho after he missed the goalless draw at 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, which ended Die Schwarzgelben’s perfect start to the year and left them in fourth place. Freiburg remain on the cusp of European qualification and would certainly aid their cause with a big result at the Signal Iduna Park.
Just a point behind Dortmund are RB Leipzig, who snapped their three-game losing run with victory over 1. FC Union Berlin. This Saturday they go to FC Augsburg, who once again proved they are the Bundesliga’s comeback kings with a late equaliser away at VfL Bochum 1848.
The Ruhr club visit Eintracht Frankfurt, who had an excellent transfer window with the signings of Hugo Ekitiké, Saša Kalajdžić and Donny Van de Beek, but came unstuck in Cologne. Köln’s 2-0 victory gave them a first win since the start of December, but they remain in 16th, sandwiched between Union and 1. FSV Mainz 05, who played their rearranged fixture at the MEWA Arena on Wednesday. This weekend, Die Eisernen host VfL Wolfsburg – on a run of four straight draws – while the 05ers visit Stuttgart flying high in third and now with 17-goal Serhou Guirassy back alongside Deniz Undav, who’s struck four times in the las two games.
Mönchengladbach vs. SV Darmstadt 98 and Heidenheim’s visit to SV Werder Bremen, who celebrated their 125th anniversary this week, complete the Saturday afternoon line-up. Matchday 21 concludes with Pellegrino Matarazzo’s TSG Hoffenheim welcoming Köln.