No, I'm not referring to those other leagues—EPL, Serie A, La Liga—the pretenders to the throne, so to speak. In speaking about the greatest European football league, I refer, in fact, to the Bundesliga of Germany.
Yes, you can quote me stats on how many Champions League titles the other leagues have won. You can list the superstar foreign players that play in the different leagues. You can tell me Spain won Euro 2008, and Italy won the World Cup in 2006.
But none of that matters to me. The Bundesliga averages more goals per game than any other league over the last 10 years, except for the Dutch Eredivise.
The German teams have a good mix of foreign and home-based players, and the German national side is proof of the strength of the German league.
While Spain and Italy won the last two major international competitions, Germany came in third and second, respectively. Plus, they were the runners up in 2002—talk about consistency.
The recent exploits in Europe may be pretty underwhelming, but there is still a strong pedigree in the competition. Bayern Munich won in 2001 and were runners up in 1999. Dortmund were winners in 1997. Bayern is also one of only three clubs to have won the title three years in a row in 1974, '75, and '76. They join Real Madrid and Ajax in that feat.
There is a great history of players who have graced the Bundesliga, ranging from Franz Beckenbauer to Kevin Keegan to Jurgen Klinsmann, to the modern heroes of Oliver Kahn and Michael Ballack.
More foreign players have appeared in the Bundesliga, such as the becoming stars Diego and Ivan Rakitic. Don't forget the current Bayern dream team of Luca Toni and Frank Ribery. Wolfsburg has signed Andrea Barzagli and Christian Zaccardo from Italy, and FC Cologne has signed Portuguese midfielder Petit from Benfica.
Top to bottom, the Bundesliga is a much more level playing field than most realize. Bayern Munich is by far the top dog (but by no means is this a given, as they are in ninth with only two wins this season), with a whole host of other clubs jockeying for the title as well.
The league format of 18 teams makes for an exciting league chase for the entire season. Teams like HSV (current league leaders), Stuttgart, FC Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg, and BVB Dortmund all have legitimate title aspirations this season. Even tiny TSG Hoffenheim is causing a ruckus in their first season in the Bundesliga.
The administration of the Bundesliga has done an excellent job in keeping costs down and maximizing profits. Last season, they beat out the EPL as the most profitable league in Europe. Earning 100 million Euros more profit, in spite of earning almost a billion Euros less in total revenue.
Bundesliga teams have done their best to keep ticket prices down—a plague that has affected most of the bigger teams in leagues around Europe. (It cost me 11 Euros to go to a match at Schalke in May of this year.) Yet, this is where German teams may be losing their edge, not having nearly enough capital to challenge the major European teams.
La Liga, EPL, Serie A—they are all good and the quality in each league is top notch. But for sheer entertainment across the entire football spectrum, nothing beats the Bundesliga.
For more information on the Bundesliga, see their great website: http://www.bundesliga.de/en/
15 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Double Pivot 9 months ago
Good article Ian. Spread the word.
I did a similiar piece at http://www.bundesligatalk.com/the-set-seven-reasons-the-bundesliga-is-better-than-the-epl/75 comparing it directly to the EPL.
And I do believe that we are going to have a better year in Europe this year :)
DoublePivot
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Ian Peterson 9 months ago
Here's hoping DoublePivot! I'll be following Schalke through the Uefa Cup this season and hoping for another title! It's too bad you can only catch the matches on Goltv in the States.
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tim chapman 9 months ago
Good article, maybe the problem is that it doesn't get enough T.V coverage, I watch in England and we get a match everynow and then. The problem comparing leagues with one another, I dont go for any of this "well from 1648 onwards we won the league 34 times in a row", nonsense because every one does that, goals per game I quote from a newspaper article "Once again, the Premier League is leading the way against the best in Europe. The 2.76 goals-per game average in England's top flight is well above the comparable leagues in Spain (2.59), Italy (2.57) and Germany (2.54)".See how boring that is, and now someone will comeback with another source saying something different. I love football and just wish people would just get on with liking it instead of arguing that what they watch is better, because at the end of the day as long as you like it who cares!
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Ian Peterson 9 months ago
Hey, don't think I'm trying to hate on the EPL or anything, because I grew up watching United play and all that jazz. I still keep a close eye on the Premier League too. The point isn't which is better, the point is to get people interested in a league they may have overlooked.
As for quoting history, everybody does it to give themselves legitimation. I mean, Liverpool fans aren't going to stop quoting how many European Champions League titles they have, United fans aren't going to stop talking about 1999 and just the 90's in general. It's what we do as sports fans.
I just love football period.
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Guido 9 months ago
The Bundesliga is one of the most spectacular leagues in Europe. I loving watching Sportschau on Saturday for the highlights of the Bundesliga. Loving it.
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Ian Peterson 9 months ago
I haven't seen Sportschau but I always try and catch at least one game on Goltv as well as the Hallo Bundesliga review show on sundays or sometime midweek.
Blau und weiss wie lieb ich dich! Love Schalke and love the Bundesliga.
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Nymkhishig Batbayar 9 months ago
"Der Rekordsmeister"s only problem is shot stopper Rensing, he's been shadowed by Kahn. and i think they will not be successful this year
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Ian Peterson 9 months ago
They certainly are not looking as hot. Injuries play a certain factor to be sure, but there are deeper problems than that. Rensing is going to need some breaking in, but being in the shadow of Kahn means the Bayern faithful are going to want immediate results.
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Anthony Sanchez 9 months ago
Nice article. unfortunately I don't get to watch it much as it isn't on the tele. People always say its weak but you only have to look at the german national team to know isn't exactly true!
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Ian Peterson 9 months ago
That's what I think too, the majority of the national side are on the books of German clubs. And like I cited, no one has been as consistent in the last three international competitions.
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Griffin Canning 9 months ago
Well, I think a lot of the problem with exposure is also down to the fact that most of the people on this site are from the UK or the US. Ask an Austrian, Swiss, Czech, Hungarian or Ukranian who their favortie teams to watch are, and chances are good you will hear at least one German team. And I think if you take Germany as a country, and not just specifically the Bundesliga, you will find that German football on a whole is better than anyone. The strength of the second league is pretty evident, whereas the weakness and gap between the first and second leagues in the 'big three' is fairly apparent.
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Ian Peterson 9 months ago
Some people might cite that there is less of a gap as being a sign of weakness but I feel if there is less of a gap in quality from top to bottom benefits the league as a whole immensely. Plus, there are plans to introduce a third tier to the Bundesliga in the next year or two, so exciting stuff.
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Brandon Evans 9 months ago
The german league is very entertaining to watch but unfortunately there isn't that much coverage compared to The Premiership for example. I heard that it has the most goals scored overall out of the top European Leagues.
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Salomon Gonzales 9 months ago
In Denmark the Bundesliga gets the most coverage followed the SAS Ligaen and then the the Premier League/Serie A.. We have all sorts of German channells like, ZDF, ARD, RTL and a host of others that regularly show Bundesliga football. Eventhough I dont understand shit, I can just sit and watch and enjoy. I dont agree that it is better than other European Leagues but it is certainly entertaining. Also there is a host of Danish players plying their trade south of the border and I like to follow them..
P.S.. The amount of goals scored isnt the only contributing factor to football entertainment.
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Ian Peterson 9 months ago
I'm not contending that the quality of football is better, just that it is more entertaining. And I enjoy watching also because it has been one of the friendliest leagues in the past towards American players.
As for the amount of goals, true it may not be the only indicator for football entertainment, but it certainly is important. Fans like to see their teams score, and score often.
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