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Following a rollercoaster opening half of the 2021-22 season, the Bundesliga has gone into the Christmas break. With 17 games played, the league is exactly at the halfway mark right now.
Bayern Munich, champions for the last nine years in a row, are on course to complete a decade of dominance, with the side racing away with the Meisterschale once again.
They're currently nine points clear at the top of the table, having led by just one until their meeting with second-placed Borussia Dortmund earlier this year. A lot has transpired in the past four months and it's time we look back upon a few aspects, such as the top-scorers.
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Remarkably, 473 goals have been scored in the Bundesliga, averaging over three per game, and these five players have been the most prolific:
#5 Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich) - 9 goals
Two players are tied at nine goals each - Union Berlin's Taiwo Awoniyi and Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry - and both managed it in 17 games each.
But the latter got the spot here because he also racked up three assists, two more than his Nigerian counterpart.
Despite his tally, Gnabry has been inconsistent this season, which has also led to several Bundesliga appearances off the bench for him in the last two months.
Nevertheless, he struck a hat-trick against Stuttgart last week which added some gloss to his season. However, Julian Naglesmann will be demanding more from him in the second half.
#4 Anthony Modeste (Koln) - 11 goals
Koln are surging in the Bundesliga, thanks to their prolific marksman Anthony Modeste, who has struck 11 goals in the season thus far. It is slightly over 40% of the side's total strikes.
Also, interestingly, eight of his goals have been headers. It is the highest count for a player in the first half of the German top-flight and a testament to the player's remarkable aerial prowess.
And he isn't merely stat-padding either. The 33-year-old forward has single-handedly helped the Billy Goats win 10 points this season, It is among the highest number of points won in Europe's major leagues at this stage.
His heroics include scoring both of Koln's goals in their 2-2 draws with Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin. He also hit late winners in the matches against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart respectively.
A clutch player in the truest sense.
#3 Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) - 13 goals
Speaking of clutch players, here's another one. Erling Haaland has been on a tear since arriving in the Bundesliga nearly two years ago and has shown no signs of slowing down.
In his first full league campaign last term, he bagged 27 goals for Borussia Dortmund. The irrepressible Norwegian has already bagged 13 in the current one.
At this rate, he may not only equal his earlier tally but might go past it as well. And what's more impressive is that Haaland has managed to score so many goals despite missing six games through injury.
#2 Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) - 16 goals
Czech Republic ace Patrik Schick was the breakout star of Euro 2020. He scored five goals to finish as the tournament's joint top-scorer alongside Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now with 16 goals in the Bundesliga, it's safe to say he has carried the same form into the 2021/22 league season.
His most notable moment so far has been the blistering four-goal salvo in the 7-1 drubbing of promoted side Greuther Furth earlier this month.
Schick became the first player in his club's history to score four times in a single game. Hellas Verona's Giovanni Simeone is the only other player to score four goals this season.
#1 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) - 19 goals
Robert Lewandowski leads the scoring charts in the Bundesliga with a frankly ridiculous stat of 19 goals in just 17 games, including one hat-trick.
He's also the top-scorer in all of Europe's major leagues right now.
Strikers don't come any deadlier than Lewandowski, but since the 2019/20 season he's been in a league of his own.
In the midst of his blazing run this season, he's also set a new record for most Bundesliga goals in a calendar year. His 43 goal-tally took him past Gerd Muller's long-standing count of 42.
