What next in Europe?
FC Bayern is threatened with a former hammer loss
By Till Erdenberger
December 15, 2023, 11:13 a.m
The preliminary rounds in the European competitions have been played and the German clubs have survived the complicated autumn quite well: six of the seven Bundesliga football teams that started are overwintering in their competition. Only newcomer Union Berlin, finishing fourth in their Champions League group, fell through the net that UEFA woven so carefully so as not to lose any of the big clubs on the way to the money pots.
FC Bayern is doing FC Bayern things in the group phase and also remained unbeaten in the preliminary round games 35 to 40 in a row. Borussia Dortmund, which is erratic in the league, amazes by winning the supposed group of death with the heavily pampered Paris St. Germain, Newcastle United and AC Milan. And RB Leipzig? As always, loses against Manchester City and otherwise shows no weakness. Bayer Leverkusen achieves great things, SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt add a little extra stress. But what happens next for the remaining German teams on their European trip? And why is this also important for the Bundesliga?
FC Bayern Munich
The German record champions are a phenomenon at international level: FC Bayern Munich have not lost any of the last 40 group games, and the 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen on the penultimate matchday meant the first loss of points after 17 wins in a row. Impressive numbers that raise the question of the sporting relevance of the group phase. But FC Bayern can’t help the quality of their opponents in the early phase of the premier class. And then, as we know, things quickly get serious: since winning the title in 2020, the six-time European Cup winner has always finished in the quarter-finals.
The draw next Monday could now give the group phase kings a supposed hammer loss for the round of 16, which, however, has long since lost its great horror: Paris Saint-Germain with superstar Kylian Mbappé is a possible opponent. The billion-dollar ensemble, which continues to desperately chase the Champions League trophy on behalf of Qatar and has so far been unsuccessful, qualified for the round of 16 in second place behind BVB. Last season they met in the round of 16, FC Bayern prevailed with two wins – and did not allow the French record champions to score in two games. Other possible opponents of FC Bayern for the round of 16 in spring are PSV Eindhoven, SSC Napoli, Inter Milan, Lazio Rome or FC Porto.
Borussia Dortmund
What a coup: On the penultimate matchday of Group F, which was considered the “Group of Death”, Borussia Dortmund made it clear that they would make it to the round of 16, and against PSG, Niklas Süle then secured the group victory with a heroic tackle against Kylian Mbappé. It is – without wanting to offend the German runner-up – one of the surprises of this Champions League season. A look at BVB’s possible upcoming opponents shows how valuable the group win is: FC Copenhagen from the Bayern group, plus Eindhoven, Naples, Inter, Lazio and Porto. That reads much better than Manchester City, Real Madrid or FC Barcelona.
RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig are likely to have Spanish weeks ahead of them – in any case, the constellation after the group phase makes a duel between the Bundesliga club and a representative from LaLiga very likely: Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona all won their preliminary group and are therefore their opponents in the round of 16 Saxony in question. Also in the draw for RB: Arsenal FC. However, the Bundesliga club has probably had enough of the English for now: three years in a row they have met Premier League croissants Manchester City in the Champions League, and RB lost five of the six games.
Bayer Leverkusen
What kind of Europa League round is Bayer Leverkusen playing there? Six games, six wins – only ten teams have achieved that, most recently FC Arsenal in 2020. With this ride through the group phase, the Bundesliga table leaders saved themselves two playoff games in February and instead qualified directly for the round of 16 (7th and 14th). March). UEFA is keeping a low profile on the method of the draw; last season, the eight group winners were seeded and met a winner of the playoff match between a group runner-up from the Europa League and a third-place group from the Champions League.
Sc freiburg
It wasn’t enough for SC Freiburg to win the group, but it was enough to advance: After losing 2-0 in the group final to Conference League winners West Ham United, the Bundesliga club must – or may – go into the playoffs for the round of 16. There the sports club will face a group third from the Champions League (Galatasaray Istanbul, RC Lens, Sporting Braga, Benfica, Feyenoord, AC Milan, Young Boys Bern, Shakhtar Donetsk). In any case, coach Christian Streich’s team has home advantage in the second leg.
Eintracht Frankfurt
No German club works its way through the European competitions as meticulously as Eintracht Frankfurt: in 2022 they celebrated European parties in a row, humiliated FC Barcelona in the mythical Camp Nou and won the Europa League, and the following season they were only in the round of 16 of the Champions League Ending. And now it’s time for the playoffs to reach the round of 16 of the Conference League – and there are various attractive opponents waiting among the third of the eight Europa League groups: Olympiacos Piraeus, Ajax Amsterdam, Betis Sevilla, Sturm Graz, Servette Geneva, Union Saint-Gilloise , Maccabi Haifa or Molde FK. Eintracht Frankfurt would also have home advantage in the second leg.
The further performance of FC Bayern and Co. is important not only for the clubs themselves, but also for the Bundesliga: 32 teams are playing in the Champions League for the last time in the current season, and in the next round the premier class will be increased to 36 teams. Of the four additional places, two will be awarded to the most internationally successful leagues this season. At the winter break, Germany is in second place in the ranking with a coefficient of 13.643, behind Italy (14.000) and just ahead of England (13.625) and Spain (12.688).