BERLIN:
Candidates at Crown Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart Cup holders are launched for a run to Bundesliga in Bayern Munich after a disappointing summer of summer giants.
The Bayern Travel in Stuttgart on Saturday for Franz Beckenbauer Supercup – the opening of the season that climbs the champions of the championship against the kingdom of German cups.
The winners of 12 of the last 13 Bundesliga titles, Bayern take on their usual role as favorite for the crown.
This summer, however, the 34-year-old league champions didn’t have everything to go in their own way.
Efforts to entice Florian Wirtz away from Leverkusen have fallen flat, with the German footballer of the year choosing rather for a move in the Premier League and Liverpool.
Although Bayern secured the attacker Luis Diaz from the English champions, they lost Thomas Mueller, Leroy Sane and Eric Dier in free transport.
Kingsley Coman has been set for a move in Saudi Arabia, Mathys Tel made Spurs’s loan permanent and efforts to sign Germany Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart have been rejected.
Speaking to the Bundesliga website on Thursday, Bayern Captain Joshua Kimmich said the changing sand throughout the championship this summer found it difficult to see who their main opponents would be.
“We will see who is beating at the top, for us. It will be important to go in our own way. We cannot influence what others will do,” Kimmich said.
Kimmich appointed the former side of RB Leipzig to bounce back after a poor 2024/25 campaign, where they lost Europe for the first time on top flight.
The Saxon Club has brought many young talents, such as Winger Johan Bakayoko and average Arthur Vermeeren, in the first summer Klopp’s Red Bull Global Head of Football.
“Leipzig have a good team. Because Leipzig is not in European competition, they will be able to focus on Bundesliga,” Kimmich added.
Leverkusen, Bayern’s main opponent in the last two seasons, has undergone clearly this summer.
Most of the main contributors to the stunning undefeated 2023/24 League and Cup Double have advanced.
Wirtz, along with the wing Jeremie Frimpong, have signed with Liverpool. Midfield Granit Xhaka pipeline has also moved to the Premier League, while Germany defender Jonathan Tah has joined the Bayern title opponents.
The biggest loss of all, however, is coach Xabi Alonso, with the Spaniard departing to join Real Madrid.
His replacement, former Manchester United leader Eric Ten Hang, will try to revive his own reputation while shaking a team with several new arrivals.
The impressive last season at the end of the third, Eintracht Frankfurt also rebuilding, having lost Hugo Ekitike in Liverpool in July just six months after the move by Winger Omar Marmoush.
Quiet building under the coach of Bundesliga Niko Kovac, Borussia Dortmund could again cause this term to be difficult to make with old enemies.
Kovac took over the reins in January with Dortmund Flailing, but helped the club go up from 11th to fourth, taking 22 out of possible 24 points to finish the season.
The addition of Jobe Bellingham will offer steel to the middle section, while the only major loss is Winger Jamie Gittens who moved to Chelsea, having competed for the game under Kovac.
The winners of the Stuttgart Cup, which ended a second in front of Bayern in 2023/24, seem to continue to worry about big weapons.
Stuttgart’s captain Atakan Karazor told AFP and other media on Thursday: “We have a very special team … We have quality players in every position – even some people haven’t heard.”
Karazor said the main man is the coach Sebastian Hoeness, who has taken Stuttgart from relegation to winners and European football in just more than two years at the helm.
“An amazing, amazing coach. You can see his manuscript in what the team does, once it came, the team’s mindset has changed,” the midfielder said.
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