Bundesliga's unique take on the progression of Youth - Why it's not successful in Europe's biggest competition

Bundesliga’s Youth vs Seria A’s Pensioners: Who is truly winning the battle in Europe?

Comparison between the Average Age in the Seria A (blue) and Bundesliga (red) since 2003/04 to this season

It must be said, prior to starting this section, that while the average age of the Bundesliga sides has been decreasing, the UEFA Coefficients, a measure of the leagues performance in European competitions, has been steadily rising. It has risen to the point of Germany overtaking the Italian Seria A as the third best league in Europe according to these rankings, that move has awarded the Bundesliga an extra place for a team in the Champions League.

Therefore one would argue that the title of the article is wrong and that the progression towards youth is working for the Bundesliga in Europe’s top competition.

One argument though that you constantly hear from Seria A, which has subsequently lost one spot in the Champions League, followers is that the reward of the extra Champions League place is not right reward for the Bundesliga since it’s clubs have only outperformed their Italian counterparts in the secondary European Cup competition, the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

While the Italians have seen two Champions League winners and one finalist since 2004/05, the Bundesliga has only seen Bayern Munich reach one final (it should be noted that the coefficient ratings are only based upon the last five seasons including the current, therefore starting from 2007/08).

That argument might have some weightage to it. Starting from 2005/06, around the time we see the revival of the Bundesliga starting, a UEFA Cup/Europa League side has gained the most coefficient points for the Bundesliga in four of the total of six seasons. That has come largely due to the performances of Hamburg (semi-final 2008/09, 2009/10), Werder Bremen (final 2008/09) and Bayern Munich (semi-final 2007/08).

The Seria A though has seen its top performers in the Champions League in five of last six seasons. The Seria A has also gained more coefficient points in the Champions League in all but the last (2010/11) season; even then, they have gained less overall points than the Bundesliga in the last four seasons. Therefore, we can see that majority of the reason behind the Bundesliga’s ascendancy to the third place in the rankings is down to its form in the UEFA Cup/Europa League and not the Champions League.

Is Age a Factor in Europe’s Biggest Competition?

The Bundesliga, it should not be doubted, has done tremendously well in pushing itself to over the Seria A in the European coefficients and therefore earning an extra place in the Champions League. The revival has been complete but what is now on the minds of the Bundesliga fans is whether the Bundesliga clubs can maintain this pace and hold onto their position at number three, maybe even make a run for second spot currently held by the La Liga.

It is possible for the Bundesliga clubs to hold on to their position and even push on by continuing to perform in the Europa League but one should hold caution in that thinking since the extra place for the Champions League means that clubs would have a greater incentive to try and perform in the league in comparison to the European competition.

We have seen many sides from the Premier League, La Liga and Seria A give little importance to the UEFA Cup/Europa League since they hold greater importance in a position in the Champions League, many Bundesliga clubs did not have the same mentality since, with only three positions given to the Champions League, there was less chance of them qualifying.

Therefore, if the Bundesliga is to hold off the challenge of the Seria A, then it would have to accomplish that by performing better in the Champions League. This season has already seen the Bundesliga fall behind the Seria A once again with champions Borussia Dortmund failing to get out of their group while all three Seria A sides in the group stages managed to qualify.

Many, rightfully so it should be said, but Borussia Dortmund’s failure down to their lack of experience in Europe’s top competition; well it can be argued that Dortmund’s players had little experience in any European competition let alone the Champions League.

That draws us back to the main problem that many Bundesliga sides, with their greater emphasis on young players in comparison to their elite league rivals, will face in the coming Champions League campaigns. Borussia Dortmund’s squad had a combined experience around 145 European Cup games. As a comparison, Javier Zanetti of Inter Milan alone has 148 matches in European Club competitions.