by Welcome to the winter of uncertainty. This was a weekend in which Bundesliga fans came together to protest against the league’s clubs who voted to go ahead and negotiate with private equity firms to sell a share of the international television rights, a anathema to fans who believe that fans, rather than big companies, should take the lead. of the game in Germany. There was 12 minutes of silence in the stadiums, representing the fans’ role as the 12th man, and tennis balls and chocolate coins were thrown (Bochum’s Takuma Asano unwrapped one of the coins and ate it, presumably giving it extra energy to make noise). volley and opened the scoring in a 3-0 victory over Union Berlin).
In a culture where fan involvement and atmosphere are the key tenet, there is little more unsettling than a silent, packed stadium. This was the second time this year that the DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) offered the option of approaching the private equity route to its 36 clubs in the country’s two main divisions. The model would be similar to deals agreed in Spain and France, providing clubs with an immediate cash injection of over €1 billion in exchange for up to 8% of future overseas rights; give the winning bidder a stake in a new media rights deal, has taken pains to point to the DFL, rather than the league itself.
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The explanation that has convinced the necessary two-thirds majority of the clubs’ respective boards has not convinced the fans. A statement from the ‘Fanszenen Deutschlands’, the clubs’ united organized fan groups, described the acceptance of the agreement as “a breaking of the dam”. The protests that have marked this season became a wave at the weekend’s games. The fans’ statement also highlighted previous victories, including the elimination of Monday’s games after the last television deal ended.
What both sides would agree on is that German football is at a crossroads. For fans, that means leaving behind “the humility of professional football that was invoked during the pandemic.” For the DFL, it’s about “sustainability” and developing a competitive structure, and ultimately it comes down to their view on what is the most valuable asset the league can have. A culture of fan democracy and involvement above all, or an open and unpredictable sporting competition (taking into account that the decline of the latter is not a problem exclusive to the Bundesliga)?
In a world where it seems like everything is changing, there was one honest constant this weekend: Bayern Munich march forward in imperious style. Sunday’s final game sent Stuttgart high flying and overtaking Bavaria and, for all the champions’ concerns in light of last week’s sneak at Eintracht Frankfurt, there is little that brings out the best in Bayern like makes it a suitable challenge. Sebastian Hoeness returned to the club marked by his family with the hope of demonstrating what has made him a star of the season (Dieter is his father, Uli his uncle), but instead “the beginning was decisive for the rest (of the match). ). ” as he later lamented.
That start was Harry Kane, perhaps the player who more than any other has defined the first half of the Bundesliga. He put Bayern ahead after receiving an assist from current star Leroy Sané, just 84 seconds into the match. He could sympathize with Hoeness. His best-laid plans were one thing, but Kane’s influence on this team is greater than any plan. “I’m the system,” James Harden infamously said when asked how he would fit into his new team’s game plan after being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in early November. The England captain would never be so immodest, but the description probably applies better to him than to The Beard.
Kane has been the glue that has held Bayern’s season together, overlooking all kinds of problems. Thomas Tuchel almost discovers here what the image would be like without his one-man solution. Kane, like Dayot Upamecano, spent two days in bed last week, one of the many players affected by the flu that plagues the Bayern camp. He came out of his sick bed, scored his 19th and 20th goals this season in the Bundesliga alone and Bayern were irresistible.
Stuttgart did nothing wrong. They certainly dominated possession, but most of their ball possession was futile. At half-time, Bayern had enjoyed only 35% of the ball (they increased it to just 37% at the end), but they felt like they were in fine form, perhaps the biggest compliment for visiting Hoeness and his team. . What was notable was that Tuchel’s team found a performance with so much incision, so much energy, when they had been decimated by the bug. When midfield pair Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka fell ill the night before the match, along with substitute goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, the coach was forced to take drastic measures. His starting pairing in the center was 19-year-old Aleksandar Pavlović and Raphaël Guerreiro, who had just returned from injury.
Pavlović was outstanding, taking charge of the set pieces and scoring the second half goal that Kim Min-Jae killed the game (he had already had one disallowed) from a corner. Thomas Müller, who also had a goal disallowed at the start of the break, stressed that he and Jamal Musiala can coexist in the same eleven and that Tuchel, like other Bayern coaches before him, should not simply keep him at arm’s length. . On the other hand, Sané stressed how good he and Kane are for each other.
This was the best Bayern, motivated by the combination of a genuine opportunity and the breath of adversity. Tuchel, who berated himself for rushing Matthijs de Ligt to the bench as “irresponsible” and the result of “an absolute emergency,” spoke evocatively of putting “team spirit” first and finding a way. “Some people looked around today,” he said, “and there were empty seats everywhere in our meeting room. You have to go a few more meters and everyone did it.”
It was a fitting sentiment at the end of a couple of days in which those in the stands also made clear that they are willing to cover more ground to preserve the status quo.
Mönchengladbach 2-2 Werder Bremen, Leipzig 3-1 Hoffenheim, Darmstadt 0-1 Wolfsburg, Mainz 0-1 Heinenheim, Augsburg 1-1 Borussia Dortmund, Bochum 3-0 Union Berlin, Bayern Munich 3-0 Stuttgart, Leverkusen 3-0 Eintracht Freiburg 2-0 Cologne
Talking points
• They had not seen him for six months, but Borussia Dortmund must have been very afraid to see Finn Dahmen. The former Mainz reserve goalkeeper, who saved a Sébastien Haller penalty when the 05ers denied BVB the title on the final day of last season, did so again as Edin Terzič’s side extended their poor run in the Bundesliga to one victory in seven games. Dahmen denied Niclas Füllkrug an acrobatic late goal with a fine save as Dortmund faced his new club Augbsurg and are now five points adrift of the top four.
• A tearful Emil Forsberg bid farewell to Leipzig after almost nine years (he will join New York Red Bulls) with a match-winning cameo, breaking a deadlock with Hoffenheim with an emphatic finish before setting up Mohamed Simakan for the goal decisive. “Everything I wanted happened here,” he told Sky. “I am very grateful.”
