FOOTBAL'S NEW ERA; BUNDESLIGA HEEDING IT

This weekend everyone will be eagerly spirited and anxiously so, as the Bundesliga buckles it up for a paradigm shift to the ‘new reality’, and this may just serve as an example to other leagues in the world.

The only league that has shown the world football that football can happen despite COVID-19 is South Korea’s K League, they may not be popular but last Friday when they re-kicked-off the proceedings they left an imprint. Bundesliga part of the famed Europe’s top five will re-kick-off this coming weekend, and possibly setting an example for others who will be observing this grand experiment so to say, “The whole world will be watching the Bundesliga.” Says former Bayern star Owen Hargreaves, rightly so, everyone would be knelling everything goes well, for if it goes well in German why wouldn’t it in Laliga, Serie A and Premier League?

These are precarious, nonhabitual times, where everyone must adapt to newly formed reality, and the return of the Bundesliga is an axiom. There is a silver lining though, this weekend despite the matches going ahead with no fans and some unusual new regulations, as per FIFA, the Bundesliga will enjoy a rich, ample viewing capacity around the world from football fans, not necessarily them only though, every sports fan who has been starving of any live sporting event, that even adds further numerical advantage to them. This is a chance for Bundesliga to indemnify and pre-eminence, to show the world what exactly Bundesliga has, if there was ever a time for intent for them, although it has come under rickety times, but still a time to seize the moment, this was it.

“I hope to play the league to its end. We want to perform well on the day. We trained last Saturday in the Arena and went through everything. A general test is you like. I’m certain that my team will give a good showing against SC Freiburg.” Says RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann. With an incandescent moulded squad, you are most certainly going to witness one of the great showpiece matches to be played this weekend, and surely one to look up for judging by their performances in UEFA Champions League, and Nagelsmann troops will prove why the Bundesliga must be afforded more attention. “we’ve trained hard and done a lot of video analysis- we’re well prepared.” Adds Nagelsmann.

What will even make the Bundesliga more enliven is the points margin between the top four which seemingly set the title wide open (and it’s fair to say this, in a long time this is a delirious title races) for everyone to have a shout at it, but what will inflict pain in most of the teams is having to play without spectators, “a derby without spectators hurts your heart to think about. We will need a higher level of self-motivation.” Admits Dortmund’s Favre, whose troops host Schalke 04 in a derby contest.

Not much is known of the Bundesliga as a league, besides two potency sides (Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund) and funny enough the two bulldozers are on top of the table, respectively. But what separates the top spot Bayern (who are away at 1.FC Union Berlin) with the 4^th placed Borussia Monchengladbach is six points. This weekend will unleash the ‘who wants it more’ from the top four sides. For a long time, the League has held the belt of the ‘underappreciated’ and this weekend they stand a chance of showing the football fraternity of what it has been missing.

For the Bundesliga debutant viewers there is so much more to expect, German football traditionally known fiercely attacking in transition and with fast football inter-change (Jurgen Klopp can attest to that) with a high scoring match. Speaking of scoring, the golden boot is still up for grabs with 25 matches played, the threatful Polish Robert Lewandowski is leading the pack with 25 goals, followed by a menacing gradually improving German Timo Werner.

With the world watching on, everyone has a point to make in the Bundesliga this weekend. And with, everyone should sit back and hopefully enjoy the ‘new football era’.