HWANG HEE-CHAN
(RB Leipzig)
Speedy, creative and
versatile, the 24-year-old
South Korea forward has
his first shot at the big time
after impressing in Austria
for RB Salzburg.16 goals
in 2019-20, he will need
to increase his output to
replace Timo Werner.
LEROY SANE
(Bayern Munich)
The livewire Germany
winger, a€45m purchase
from Manchester City, is
rightly described by Bayern
CEO-elect Oliver Kahn
as a “difference-making
player”. Bayern represents
an acid test of his attitude
and professionalism.MARCUS THURAM
(Borussia Monchengladbach)
Fresh from his first season
in the German top flight
in which he scored ten
goals, set up eight and
beat defenders with his
powerful dribbling, the
22-year-old French winger
or centre-forward now has
to take it to the next level.LUCAS TOUSART
(Hertha Berlin)
Hertha Berlin broke their
transfer record to sign the
23-year-old midfielder
for€24m inJanuary,
but he remained on loan
at Lyon for the rest of
the season, scoring
againstJuventus in the
Champions League last16.FLORIAN WIRTZ
(Bayer Leverkusen)
At the age of17, Wirtz
is already dazzling with
his sumptuous ability as
a central playmaker or
winger. Struck a dream goal
for the Leverkusen youth
team last year, firing home
from the half-way line five
seconds into a match.E
x-Bayern Munich and
Germany playmaker Mario
Basler has one basic message
on the eve of the new
Bundesliga campaign – don’t expect
Bayern’s eight-year championship
hegemony to crumble any time soon.
Basler, still as trenchant in his
opinions as he was in his playing days,
does not merely feel good about the
Bavarians’ exceptional squad. Equally,
if not more important for Basler,
is Bayern’s remarkable desire
and mental toughness.
In a recent interview withFrance
Footballmagazine, Basler explained:
“Winning is in the DNA of the club.
When the situation demands it, Bayern
players always step up to the mark.
They adore these instances. While
they are energised, other teams seem
to shrink as the pressure mounts in the
home stretch. Bayern have an appetite
for success that has no limits. They are
ravenously hungry.
“I fear that clubs like Dortmund and
RB Leipzig are too inconsistent and
fearful in the key moments to unseat
Bayern. Take last season. Bayern hada terrible run of results in the autumn.
Yet still managed to clinch the title.”
What makes Bayern even more
formidable at the moment is that
they have the ideal coach in former
Germany assistant Hansi Flick, someone
perfectly in tune with the club’s ethos
and lofty expectations. Unlike his
predecessor Niko Kovac, whom hereplaced last November, Flick enjoys an
infinitely better working relationship with
the players. The feeling in the dressing
room is that Flick is everything Kovac
wasn’t: an attack-conscious risk-taker,
much clearer in his match-day
instructions and a superior
communicator.
Flick has revived Bayern in more
or less every possible way. The football
is more fluid, enterprising and attractive;
work rate and tactical flexibility have
improved enormously and after the
collective hiccups of the Kovac era,
the Reds suddenly are a slick,
cohesive unit again.
Inevitably, all eyes at the Allianz
Arena will be on striker extraordinaire
Robert Lewandowski – who topped
the Bundesliga scoring charts last term
with 34 goals – and newly-acquired
big-money winger Leroy Sane. TheG E R M A N Y B U N D E S L
IG
A
2
0
2
0- 2
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Chasers...Haaland
will lead Dortmund’s
title challenge“Bayern players always step up to
the mark...They have an appetite
for success that has no limits”
Mario Basler