Can Borussia Dortmund Win the Bundesliga This Season?
For Die Borussen, there is nothing that the supporters and players would like more than for the club to win the Bundesliga. Most seasons there is an acceptance that Bayern Munich are more likely to end up as champions, but seeing Bayer Leverkusen win comfortably last time out was difficult to stomach.
When supporters head to the Westfalenstadion during this campaign, they will be heading there in the hope of seeing their team win at least some silverware during the course of the season and will have the title at the top of the agenda. The question is, can Die Schwarzgelben reclaim the Meisterschale in 2024-2025?
The Champions League’s New Look Could be Defining
There is an extent to which many football fans are completely and utterly ignoring and underestimating just how influential the new-look Champions League might be to the overall outcome of Europe’s top leagues. Previously, clubs could be drawn against reasonably poor opposition in the group stage and not have to take the competition all that seriously until the knockout round got underway.
The introduction of the Swiss system, however, means that everything is different and such a blasé attitude won’t be available to sides hoping to enjoy success in it. There is n longer a group stage, with a 36-team league coming in instead.
ℹ️ New format. New draw.#UCLdraw | #UELdraw | #UECLdraw pic.twitter.com/QKTwVPMhQU
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 20, 2024
Each side will be drawn to play eight different opponents, playing four at home and four away. It will only be the teams that finish in positions one through to eight that will qualify directly into the knockout rounds, with the teams that finish between ninth and 24th having to face each other in knockout play-offs.
It means that every match will matter, so the draw could be instrumental in deciding how seriously teams decide to take it in comparison to the Bundesliga. There will be more games played between teams that you would consider ‘equally ranked’, so Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen might have to adjust their focus.
The Curse of Harry Kane?
When he played for Tottenham Hotspur, Harry Kane was considered to be one of the best strikers on the planet. Absolutely deadly in front of goal, he won the Golden Boot several times in the Premier League and helped to fire England to two international tournament finals. The only problem was, he didn’t win any meaningful silverware.
He was a losing finalist in the League Cup in both the 2014-2015 season and in 2020-2021, then in the 2018-2019 campaign his Spurs side lost the Champions League final to Liverpool. His move to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023 was seen as an opportunity for him to finally win a trophy.
@wetalkfootballuk The Harry Kane Curse explained – all attempts to win trophies and finals #harrykane #kane #england #tottenham #liverpool #chelsea #arsenal #bayernmunich
Sadly for Kane, however, no trophy was forthcoming in his first season in Munich. The side that had won the Bundesliga 11 times in succession missed out on the title by 18 points, coming third. Having also won the previous 11 DFL-Supercups, Die Roten lost to Xabi Alonso’s all-conquering Bayer Leverkusen.
Whilst it isn’t all that realistic to think about curses, it is certainly true that Bayern Munich’s winning streak came to a screeching halt in the year that Harry Kane arrived at the club, in spite of him being in the Bundesliga Team of the Season. Dortmund shouldn’t depend on it, but it might just be something that works in their favour.
Coming Close & Missing Out
For Dortmund, there have been a few years of pain in recent times. In the 2022-2023 season, it looked as though the club was going to win its first Bundesliga title since the departure of Jürgen Klopp as manager. Top of the table heading in to the final day, all Der BVB needed to do was to win against Mainz 05 and they would win the title, irrespective of what Bayern Munich did.
Cruelly, however, Mainz took the lead after 15 minutes and doubled it nine minutes later, having seen Sébastien Haller miss a penalty for the home side. The game ended up finishing 2-2, whilst Jamal Musiala scored a late winner for Munich against 1. FC Köln.
It was a heartbreaking end to the season, not made any better by Jude Bellingham’s departure for Real Madrid in the summer. Perhaps we should’ve known that Dortmund would end up facing Los Blancos during the following campaign, but the fact that it was in the Champions League final made it all the more cruel.
The first appearance in the final of Europe’s elite competition in 11 years should’ve been a moment of celebration, but Wembley once again proved to be the ground of heartbreak as the Spanish side won 2-0. What it means, though, is that Borussia Dortmund have come close and missed out for two years running, so surely it’s third time lucky?
The Pressure is on Bayer Leverkusen
There is no question that Xabi Alonso did an incredible job at Bayer Leverkusen last season. To go unbeaten for an entire campaign is a remarkable achievement and the manner in which Leverkusen won the Bundesliga can’t be understated.
It was a tremendous campaign, but it leaves a lot to live up to. Can we really expect Die Werkself to be able to repeat the trick and lift the Bundesliga trophy again? Certainly Opta seem to think that they can, giving them a 49.2% chance of retaining the title, which makes them easy favourites. The reality is, though, that coming from nowhere and winning is different to being the side with a target on your back.
"A lot of eyes are going to be on Kompany… Is he the ilk of Bayern?”@NotAlexis previews what the upcoming Bundesliga season has in store for Bayern Munich 🔮 pic.twitter.com/WexY4zDvT4
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) August 23, 2024
The pressure is on the Spaniard and his cohorts to win the title once more, but add in the aforementioned Champions League with its new look and you can see why it might not be quite so easy for time. That surely means that Bayern Munich will retain it, doesn’t it? Maybe, but the fact that they have inexplicably decided to make former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany their manager means that that is anything but a sure-thing.
Kompany relegated Burnley out of the Premier League at the end of the 2023-2024 campaign, so Borussia Dortmund could find themselves in a hand position if they can just stay in the fight to the end.
