Green light for the Bundesliga which start again on 15 May

After the endorsement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Bundesliga quickly sent a letter to the 36 clubs in the two major leagues in the country indicating that the return of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga should take place on 15 May, approximately within a week.

OFFICIAL NOTE ISSUED AND HOT ENGINES

The Bundesliga has not wasted any time since it got the green light to restart its activity and quickly issued an official note which it sent to the 36 clubs in the first two German divisions reporting on the resumption of the competition on 15 May.

According to the newspaper Bild, only Werder Bremen was reluctant before this restart, indicating that they would prefer to start a week later in order to give more time to their players. Anyway, in a decision taken by those responsible and in which only one of the 36 interested clubs will have spoken out against everything, it indicates that we will have football in Germany next Friday in a match that should oppose Fortuna Dusserldorf against Paderborn, two teams in the relegation zone who are desperate for points at this stage.

This restart will only be possible because the clubs have been training for a long time since the Bundesliga was one of the first competitions to authorize individualized and later collective training. In this way, the players will be close to the ideal physical conditions, lacking only the competitive pace that can only come with games.

WHERE WERE WE AT THE STOP?

With the Bundesliga close to their comeback, it is time to look back on where things were when the competitive stoppage took place.
Bayern Munich led the Bundesliga after 25 matches. The Bavarians followed at the top with 55 points after four consecutive victories, followed by the eternal rival Borussia Dortmund who adds 51 and interestingly also had won the last four meetings.

RB Leipzig continued to lose gas and was already third with 50 points after only two wins in the last five rounds.
The fight for the top four that guarantees access to the next Champions League ends with Borussia Monchengladbach who is fourth with 49 points and Bayer Leverkusen who continues with 47.

Gladbach led the Bundesliga for several weeks, but have had a natural break for a team with weak resources compared to the other top teams in the league.

Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, are in the opposite process, having started the season very badly, but living a great moment when they stopped with four wins and a draw in the last five challenges.

BREMEN AND PADERBORN AT ROPE-BAMBA

In the Bundesliga, only two clubs descend directly to the second division while the bottom penultimate of the table needs to play a play-off against the third placed in 2.Bundesliga to decide which of the two clubs guarantees presence in the 1.Bundesliga the following year.
So, for the moment Paderborn and Werder Bremen are the clubs in the relegation zone, and their punctual situation is really worrying.

Paderborn have just 16 points from 25 games while Bremen have 18, but with less than one game played. The 16th place is Fortuna Dusseldorf with 22 points and Mainz is just above with 26 points.

Thus, Paderborn is currently ten points away from salvation and six from playing in the survival play-off so their life is not at all easy, and Werder Bremen is also not much better at this stage.

BAYERN ON THE WAY TO THE NINTH CONSECUTIVE TITLE

If Bayern Munich retain their current leadership until the end of the season, they will win the ninth consecutive Bundesliga title in a historic milestone never before seen in the competition. The Bavarian club even started the season badly and was forced to fire Croatian coach Niko Kovac, but his interim coach Hans-Dieter Flick has done an excellent job since he took charge and this has even earned him a promotion as head coach with contract until 2023.

The dominant German football club is also having an excellent European campaign and should be able to qualify for the Champions League Quarter-Finals after beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 3-0 in the first leg of the Eighth in Final.

As you will know, the Champions League will only resume its activity in August in order to give the domestic leagues time to complete in good time. Only afterwards will attention turn to European competitions.