World Soccer - UK (2022-07)

COACH OF

THESEASON

Intoday’s Bundesliga,

there is no better

motivatorthanSteffen

Baumgart. Sporting

histrademarkgrey

cap,the charismatic

ex-HansaRostock

strikerhasworked

wondersinhisfirst

seasonatCologne,

preachingintensity,

togethernessanda

no-frillsapproach.

NEWCOMER

OFTHESEASON

Josko Gvardiol

hitthe ground

runningafter joining

RBLeipzigfor

€ 18 millionfrom

DinamoZagreb in

Julyoflast year.

Wordhasitthatthe

highly-ratedCroatian

centre-back, 2 0,now

hasa marketvalueof

almost€30m.

theBundesligathatBayernwereput
undersolittlepressurein 2 02 1-2 2 ,
thatthechasingpackall hadtheir
glaringfault-lines.Inmarkedcontrast
toDortmund’spotencyasanattacking
force – most of it generatedbythe
ManchesterCity-boundstriker Erling

Haaland– theirdefensiveworkwas

often slipshod(hencethepursuitof

Sule).Leverkusen,anotherteamequally

capableofoffensive fireworksasrear-

guardgaffes,weremuchmoreeffective

ontheirtravels.Asfor theLeipziger, they

onlycametolifeinearly December

whencoachJesseMarschwassacked

andreplacedbythemoretactically

aware Domenico Tedesco.

FullmarkstoformerSchalkeboss

Tedescoforspectacularlyturningit

aroundinLeipzig,transformingan

under-performingmid-tablesideinto

vibrantandwell-organisedChampions

Leaguequalifiers.With 36 pointsfrom

17 games,RBwereverymuchthe form

teamofthe post-New Yearperiod.

UnionBerlinand Freiburgprovided

thefeel-goodstoriesofthecampaign,

makinglightofscantliquiditytosecure

tickets fornextseason’s EuropaLeague.

Thatfifth-placedUnion – whoin 2006

wereplayinginthefourthtierofthe

Germanpyramid– were just twopoints

shyof a ChampionsLeaguespot

emphaticallysaysthatanyonecandare

todream.Union’sacecards?Theclever

man-managementofSwisscoachUrs

Fischer, theirdefensive stabilityand

15 -goalNigerianstrikerTaiwoAwoniyi.

Anothersurprisepackage were

Colognewho,afteremerging unscathed

froma relegationplay-off last term,

bouncedbackwithavengeance,

finishingseventh to claima Europa

ConferenceLeaguespot.A thoroughly-

deservedrecompensefora teamworth

muchmorethanthesumofitsparts.

Pitythesamecouldnotbe said of

BorussiaMonchengladbach,Wolfsburg

andEintrachtFrankfurt,whodespite

above-averagerosters,madelittle

Bundesligaheadway.Thelatter,

ofcourse,madeupfor it with

victory in theEuropaLeague.

Theautomatically-relegatedpairof

GreutherFurthandArminia Bielefeld

hadtwo distinctsobstories.Furth were

alreadyonthe rocksafter startingthe

seasonwith a 14 -gamewinlessstreak.

Bielefeld simplydrewtoomany games,

a leaguehighthistermof 13.

WORLDSOCCER 45

Ten in a row...

Bayernplayers

celebrateduring

thetitle-clinching

victoryagainst

Borussia

Dortmund

Top newcomer...
Irresistible...RobertLewandowski Josko Gvardiol

BUNDESLIGA:GERMANY

EUROSEASONREVIEW

AtBayerntheylovetowin

trophiesinclusters.Thatwas

notthecasethisterm