Despite the end result, the title race between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen was quite tight for the majority of the season. Until February, Thomas Tuchel’s men was able to keep up but then suffered a collapse, with Leverkusen taking full advantage by racking up a massive gap that the Bavarian giants simply could not even begin to overcome.
But this season, the situations could be reversed. New head coach Vincent Kompany’s Bayern already enjoy a 9 point lead over Leverkusen, at the time of writing, which has led Uli Hoeneß to promise the Bundesliga title is already secured in the Bavarian clubs’ favor. Granit Xhaka, a key player for the current Bundesliga champions, reacts to this statement:
“Nine points is all well and good but no one has ever become champion after 11 matchdays. We respect Mr. Hoeneß’s opinion, of course,” Xhaka added, via @iMiaSanMia. “But in the end we have to look at ourselves. We have 7 finals to play before the winter break and we will do everything we can to get maximum points — because we’ll need them.”
The position of challenger was one Leverkusen forced on Bayern last season, leading them on a merry chase. Now it is Leverkusen’s turn to chase and see if their charge ends up better than Bayern’s did last season.
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