#5 Bayern Munich
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Okay, so this one is going to sound totally crazy. How can a side who won their domestic league at a canter – with a current gap from them to second place of thirteen points, and only two losses in the league all season – be considered to have choked? Well, ignore their domestic form for a second; let’s look at how they did in Europe.
Sure, Munich made the quarters of the Champions League and pulled off some great results along the way – the result against Arsenal for example – but look at their losses in Europe – they were defeated by Russian side Rostov, and then lost to both Madrid teams – Atletico in the group stage and Real in the quarters.
The issue for me is this; the Bundesliga has now been won by Bayern for the past five seasons, and the gap between them and the rest of the clubs in Germany seems to be getting bigger. They’ve been winning the league regularly by more than ten points, which is scary when you consider how close the race for the title is in the Premier League, for instance. Even La Liga, which is decried for only having three title contenders (Real, Atletico and Barcelona) is always close at the end between those three sides.
Bayern, quite simply, have killed their domestic competition with their transfer policy of signing the best players from the other top Bundesliga clubs. Mats Hummels – signed from Borussia Dortmund for a little more than £35m – was the latest example. The problem though is that iron sharpens iron and how can Bayern expect to do well in Europe when their own league is so soft?
This season marks the fourth one in a row that Bayern have been eliminated by one of the Spanish giants. How long before it’s a Premier League club, or a French side that does it? How long before Bayern become the German version of Celtic, bossing a one-team league that just gets weaker? Bayern might’ve owned the Bundesliga again, but by killing their competition I think they’re choking themselves.
