Munich: Bayern Munich asserted their dominance in German football with 10th consecutive Bundesliga title after they beat rivals Borussia Dortmund by 3-1 on Saturday. Serge Gnabry, Robert Lewandowski and Jamal Musiala scored the champions at the Allianz Arena.
However there is another side to this story. Why is this lack of competition at the top level of German football? A question that has drawn attention after Bayern’s record-extending title. If we take a look at the other top European Leagues, in the same timeframe English Premier League have been won by five different clubs.
Also the Spanish La Liga has been own by three different clubs so is French Ligue 1. The Italian Serie A also has been won by two different clubs in the last decade. The last time, a club, other than Bayern Munich, won the Bundesliga was Borussia Dortmund in 2012, under Jurgen Klopp, who is currently the head coach of Liverpool in EPL.
Over the previous nine seasons, Bayern Munich have registered a gap of more than 14 points on average. New German Football League (DFL) CEO, Donata Hopfen suggested the play-offs format may break this one-way dominance and make the league more attractive.
“The league would of course be more attractive if it had more competition at the top. “If play-offs help us, then we’ll talk about play-offs,” he said. Another reason for Bayern’s success has been getting upper hands when it comes to resources.
A perfect 🔟#MISS10N #MiaSanMeister pic.twitter.com/VSnRwP9Vo6
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) April 23, 2022
The recent trend has been the players representing other German clubs head towards Bayern Munich after having a successful season with their respective clubs. One of the worst affected have been Borussia Dortmund, who lost names like Mario Goetze (2013), Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummels in 2016 to Bayern.
However, Hummels returned to Dortmumd in 2019. Leipzig have been affected too. The club that was formed few years ago, managed to finish second in the league twice during the last five seasons and had their players and manager targeted.
Dayot Upamecano, Marcel Sabitzer and manager Julian Nagelsmann, all moved to Bayern Munich before the ongoing season. The eye-catching success of Bayern Munich in the last decade have called for reforms to make the top flight football more competitive and interesting.
Although several proposals have been put forth but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
