Bayern Munich: Philipp Lahm wants a more competitive Bundesliga
The Bundesliga title race came to an end on Saturday as Bayern Munich clinched the title with a 3-1 win against Borussia Dortmund at Allianz Arena. Die Roten also became the first European club to win ten consecutive league titles with their latest Bundesliga triumph.
Bayern last didn’t win the Bundesliga title way back in the 2011/12 campaign. It is a testament to the efficiency of the Bavarian club on and off the pitch to enjoy a decade-long success in Germany. However, the domination of Bayern doesn’t paint a good picture of the Bundesliga.
There is no doubt about Die Roten’s quality over the years, but the lack of other winners may not make the Bundesliga an exciting league to watch. Moreover, the title races are also not closely fought. Even though the league title was confirmed for Rekordmeister on Saturday, the outcome of the title race was decided at the halfway stage of the season.
After the Bundesliga victory on Saturday, former Bayern defender Philipp Lahm raised concerns about the dominance of the Bavarian club. While talking to ZDF Sportsstudio (via SportBuzzer), Lahm admitted that the title race needs to be much closer, and it should go down to the wire instead of an early conclusion.
"“It’s not good, of course, that’s out of the question. I think it’s not so good for Bayern either that they’re champions so early.”“It can happen that Bayern become champions one after the other, but it must be closer that the Bundesliga is really exciting until the end and is not always decided four games before the end.”"
The exciting title races add further entertainment value for fans across the globe. The title race in England and Italy is expected to go down to the wire. Having a competitive edge across the points table is one of the contributing factors in getting lucrative broadcast deals for clubs across the league.
The Bundesliga is currently way behind Premier League in terms of revenue from broadcast deals. It is crucial for the league that the title races become much more intense and clubs start giving Bayern a run for the money until the end of the season.
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Bayern has done well at addressing key issues in the squad over the last decade. They have also made the right coaching appointments, which most of the other top clubs in the Bundesliga have failed to do. Whenever Rekordmeister has faltered a bit, the other big clubs in Germany have struggled to capitalise or build on the lead they had over the Bavarian club.
Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig have failed to mount a title challenge on a regular basis in the last decade. The two clubs should use this decade-long domination of Die Roten as a motivation to get things right from next season. A stronger Bundesliga will eventually help the German clubs to compete well in Europe.