Round 18
January 23, 2012
2011-12 was supposed to be the season when a revamped Bayern squad reclaimed the Bundesliga title with ease while concentrating on the Champions League, the final of which is being held in Munich in May.
But after the first round of the new year, that ain't going to happen. Bayern find themselves barely clinging to the top of the table in a four-way dogfight. Both Dortmund and Schalke level on points with the Bavarians, while overachievers Mönchengladbach lurk a mere point behind.
It's the first time this millennium that a quartet of teams is running neck-and-neck after round 18 of a season. That's worrisome for the powers-that-be in Munich, even if it's great for fans who can look forward to a thrilling title race.
So how do the contenders match up? Pretty evenly, it turns out.
Defensive deficiencies
Bayern focused on improving at the back in the off-season, bringing in keeper Manuel Neuer and defenders Rafinha and Jerome Boateng. But their 3-1 loss to Gladbach showed that not all of the problems have been sorted out.
Surprisingly, one of the players who has cost Bayern points this season is Neuer, the most hotly coveted keeper in the world a few months back. An awful give-away in the first half on Friday paved the way for Gladbach's upset and recalled a botched clearance that handed the Foals victory in the two teams' first fixture this season.
That drew direct criticism from normally even-keeled Munich coach Jupp Heynckes.
"His problem is that he wants to force play too quickly," Henyckes told reporters. "He has to be more calm and concentrated."
At his former club, Schalke, Neuer was used to taking a proactive, offensive role, and he's had trouble adjusting to Bayern, where consistency, not daring, is the most needed quality.
Another sign that does not augur well for Munich is the fact that Daniel van Buyten broke his foot against Gladbach. He'll be out for weeks, leaving Bayern with only two trained central defenders on their normal squad.
Against run-of-the-mill teams, Munich can keep opponents out of their own half. But this year, there are some German teams who refuse to be simply flattened - and are capable of doing some steamrollering of their own.
The power of pressing
The team that poses the greatest threat to Bayern's domestic ambitions is undoubtedly Dortmund. In Sunday's match against Hamburg, a team that hadn't lost since October, the reigning champs displayed all the mischievous energy of a pack of hyperactive ferrets, running away 5-1 winners.
Team spirit is an oft-cited cliché in football, but it's genuinely at the heart of Dortmund's success, translated on the pitch into relentless pressing.
Even more impressively, Dortmund dominated despite missing their midfield wunderkind Mario Götze, who's out injured. Dortmund have already beaten Bayern this season, and without the distraction of the Champions League, which they exited this winter, they are the favorites against almost everyone.
"We play our brand of football, and the guys put that into practice without mercy," Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp said after the Hamburg game.
Dortmund's greatest weakness has been squandered chances. To correct that flaw, they might want to have a look a bit further up the road at their greatest rivals.
Steady as she goes
Schalke don't dominate matches the way Dortmund do. Indeed often, watching them on the pitch, you'd be hard pressed to believe that this team could be level on points with the leaders.
But the Royal Blues have developed a knack for scoring one goal more than their opponents.
Veteran coach Huub Stevens usually employs an old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation, exploiting the considerable talents of strikers Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raul. As a result, Schalke have been getting the sort of tough wins the title-winning Bayern teams of old used to.
Their 3-1 victory over Stuttgart recently was one of their most comfortable of 2011-12. Still, Stevens is preaching skepticism.
"We still don't have the sort of stability (we want)," Stevens told journalists. "I don't see us all the way at the top, and we shouldn't compare ourselves to Bayern."
Caution is certainly advised. Schalke never looked like winners in their matches against Bayern and Dortmund this season, and they also must bear the burden of history, having not claimed the German title in more than 50 years.
An immovable force
One team that does want to recall history is Gladbach. Coach Lucien Favre has taken a team that had been stuck in the doldrums for decades and molded them into one of the toughest foes in the Bundesliga.
After 18 rounds, the Foals possess the stingiest defense in the league, and on Friday, Bayern grew increasingly frustrated trying to penetrate the two rows of four Favre installed in his own half.
That tactical discipline makes Gladbach extremely well-equipped to cope with the other top German teams. Against the other three squads in the leading quartet, the Foals have taken an impressive 7 points from 4 matches.
But their defensive approach works less well when they have to take the game to opponents instead of sitting back and launching counterattacks. Of their four losses thus far, a pair came against the two worst teams in Germany, Augsburg and Freiburg.
It would be a minor miracle if the Foals could recapture the glory of their salad days in the 1970s and take the title in 2012.
Author: Jefferson Chase
Editor: Rina Goldenberg