Bundesliga 2013-14: Season Preview

It’s August, and it’s time for football. After a completely uninteresting and depressing 3 months sans football, we have all the major leagues kicking off, starting with the Bundesliga this Friday.

Well, we did have the FIFA Confederations Cup to watch, and of course a few friendlies, but the real deal is always the more thrilling and nail-biting experience which league football offers.

While the EPL races ahead, with its very wide audience base around the world, thanks to the drama and quality being put on show, the German league, will surely attract a much bigger viewer base this term compared to the previous ones.

Much of that can be attributed to the comprehensive success of Bayern Munich and Dortmund who turned on their A game to set up an all-German Champions League final last May. While one may wonder about the extent of their success at the highest level, it wasn’t a one-off miracle for the season.

It took almost a decade of meticulous planning and unparalleled execution of those plans which have brought the German clubs to the pinnacle.

Over the years, the Bundesliga has earned the name of being the most unpredictable league of all. With smaller teams managing upsets over the big fishes on a frequent basis, there is enough scope for scintillating, entertaining matches.

Though the past few seasons have seen two teams dominate the charts, Leverkusen were very close to finishing second ahead of Dortmund last season. This time around, Bayern have gotten much stronger and have one of the best coaches in the world. But their loss in the German Super Cup to Dortmund will force us to think otherwise.

Last season, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Greuther Furth were relegated, while Werder Bremen were the startling underperformers. From the lower league, Hertha BSC and Eintracht Braunschweig got promoted into the top flight.

Hoffenheim managed to retain their place with a relegation playoff win over second division’s Kaiserslautern. Hertha BSC will be the one to watch amongst the bottom half teams. While we are at it, let’s take a look at few of the teams which have the potential to provide attractive and quality football for the next 10 months.

Starting with Champions League finalists on the next page…