Can Anyone Stop Bayern Munich This Season?

After securing the first-ever Franz-Beckenbauer Supercup title holders Bayern Munich will host RB Leipzig to kick off the 63rd Bundesliga campaign at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich regained the title last year after finishing the 2023/24 campaign in third place behind Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart.

At first glance, anything but the 35th German championship and the 34th Bundesliga title would be a major surprise. After all, there is no doubt that the Rekordmeister has the most talented squad in the Bundesliga.

Numbers by Transfermarkt underline this observation. With a market value of €875 million ($1.01 billion), Bayern’s squad value is significantly ahead of the second most valuable squad in the league: RB Leipzig. Leipzig’s squad value of just €493 million ($572 million) is almost half of Bayern’s evaluation.

That, however, doesn’t mean that there is no hope for a title race. Even though Bayern Munich added superstar winger Luis Díaz from Liverpool, the squad seems thin. Together with Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund, the Rekordmeister has the smallest squad in the league.

Overall, Bayern has 26 players listed in its squad. But unlike Leverkusen and Dortmund, that squad includes four goalkeepers and four youth players: Paul Wanner, Lennart Karl, Wisdom Mike and Jonah Kusi-Asare. Furthermore, one of these youth players, Wanner, is now on the move and set to join PSV Eindhoven.

Bayern’s squad strength has certainly been a discussion point among players. “It is one of the smallest squads I played in,” Bayern star striker Harry Kane said to Transfermarkt after the Supercup. “There is still some time from now until the end of the transfer window. But that’s down to [director of sport] Max [Eberl] and [sporting director] Christoph [Freund] as well as the coach to make those kinds of decisions. We also have a couple of really good young players who have done well in preseason games. But yeah, we are a little light, if we are being honest, but from our point of view, we, the players, can’t control that.

The feeling then was that Bayern was still going to add players. But instead, Wanner is now set to leave, and no new players will come in.

There is certainly a major risk in that approach. With Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies out for the foreseeable future, the Bayern squad appears to be just one injury away from a major crisis. While that’s bad for the Rekordmeister, it provides an opportunity for the other teams in the Bundesliga.

Who are the major challengers? The most obvious choice seems to be Leverkusen. But Die Werkself also underwent a major turnover this summer. Head coach Xabi Alonso left for Real Madrid and was replaced by Erik ten Hag. Star players Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong (both Liverpool), Granit Xhaka (Sunderland), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Amine Adli (Bournemouth), and Lukas Hradecky (Monaco) are all gone. By the time of writing, Leverkusen was also in the final stages of selling Victor Boniface to Milan.

Several new players arrived. Among them are Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Malick Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), Loïc Badé (Sevilla), Ibrahim Maza (Hertha), Mark Flekken (Brentford), Ernest Poku (AZ Alkmaar), and several younger players. The talent is there, but putting together a new team that can challenge for the title will take time.

The same can be said for Leipzig. The Red Bulls have once again a young and exciting team after spending north of $100 million on new players. However, the departures of Benjamin Sesko and Xavi Simons will need to be compensated for.

Leipzig added Johan Bakayoko (PSV), Yan Diomande (Leganes), Rômulo (Göztepe), Ezechiel Banzuzi (Leuven), Andrija Maksimović (Crvena zvezda), and Max Finkgräfe (Köln). All those players are exciting names, but new head coach Ole Werner will take some time to find a structure to fully integrate all those wunderkinds.

Teams to watch will be Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart. Frankfurt lost Hugo Ekitiké to Liverpool but otherwise kept together and added to an exciting squad. Cup winners Stuttgart has perhaps the best coach in the league in the form of Sebastian Hoeneß.

Stuttgart is a team to watch. Die Schwaben were able to hold on to emerging star Nick Woltemade and added Noah Darvich. Darvich was the biggest star of the 2023 U17 World Cup, guiding Germany to the trophy. Darvich is set to replace Enzo Millot, who opted to leave for Saudi Arabia.

Bayern’s biggest obstacle to winning the title will, however, be an old enemy: Borussia Dortmund. After a horrendous season that was only just salvaged by new head coach Niko Kovac, Dortmund looks like the most stable of all the big Bundesliga clubs.

Indeed, under Kovac, Dortmund was only second to Bayern Munich in points per game last season. The Berlin-born Croatian doesn’t play the most exciting football but that might be a good thing for Dortmund. Focused on defense and relying up front on Serhou Guirassy, who might be the most reliable goalscorer in the Bundesliga, the Black and Yellows are a serious title contender this season.

That’s perhaps good news for the Bundesliga. Over the last couple years, Leverkusen challenged Bayern, winning the title in 2024. But Dortmund is Germany’s second biggest club, and a title challenge between the Black and Yellows and Bayern would certainly generate significant attention.