Another season of Bayern Bundesliga dominance beckons
BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayern Munich will be aiming for an unprecedented fifth successive Bundesliga title in the season which kicks off on Friday and there seems little that can stop them.
With other teams unable to match Bayern's spending power, it has become a case in the last few seasons of when, rather than if, Bayern will lift the trophy.
Pep Guardiola won the Bundesliga in each of his three seasons in charge, in one case wrapping up the title race with seven matches to spare, and has been replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, another of Europe's top coaches.
Bayern have also continued their policy of buying players from their main rivals Borussia Dortmund, in this case spending an estimated 35 million euros ($39.4 million) on Germany defender Mats Hummels.
The also paid roughly the same amount for 19-year-old midfielder Renato Sanches from Benfica, a Euro 2016 winner with Portugal.
"We have a fantastic team and we will try to be strong in every competition and to win each one," said Ancelotti, whose side host Werder Bremen in their opening game on Friday (1830 GMT).
"There won't be any revolutions," the Italian added.
While Bayern can cherry pick from around Europe, their rivals have been selling their most promising players.
Borussia Moenchengladbach offloaded Granit Xhaka to Arsenal for around 45 million euros and Schalke 04 pocketed some 50 million euros for 20-year-old Leroy Sane who has moved to Manchester City.
Dortmund, who host Mainz 05 on Saturday (1330 GMT), also sold midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester United (42 million euros) and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (27 million) to Manchester City.
Their departures have forced a hasty rebuilding programme on Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel, who led his side to second place last season.
"We tried everything to hang on to these players, but we couldn't manage it," he said. "Bayern Munich, Manchester United and City offered a bigger stage than we could, and the possibility of winning more titles.
"Now we must let them go and look forward."
Tuchel, whose innovative coaching methods include making defenders train with tennis balls in their hands so that they drop the habit of clutching an attacker's shirt, is still determined to offer some sort of resistance to Bayern.
Dortmund have spent more than 100 million euros on replacements, including Andre Schuerrle, Mario Goetze, Raphael Guerreiro and Ousmane Dembele.
"It feels like a new beginning," said Tuchel who, crucially, has managed to hang on to striker Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang.
"We all have to be adaptable and come up with a new way of playing, one which gives us results and lets the youngsters express themselves.”
The new season will also feature controversial newcomers RB Leipzig, one of several clubs around the world bank-rolled by energy drink manufacturer Red Bull, after they were promoted last season.
Formed only seven years ago, they are not connected to the former East German club Lokomotiv Leipzig, who had one season in the Bundesliga in the mid-1990s.
Officially named RasenBallSport (grass ball sport), Leipzig have had to circumvent Bundesliga rules which bans clubs from being named after their sponsors but they have been big spenders for several seasons as they climbed up the divisions.
This has irked other clubs who have accused them of being little more than a marketing ploy for Red Bull and they have faced protests from rival fans at away games.
(Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond)