Who wants it? Who wants it? The “it” in question, in case you’re wondering, is the honorary title of “Bayern hunter”: a brand new expression, the invention of which by German football officials has become necessary now that the more traditional honorary title of “Herbstmeister” (half-season champion) is being automatically added to Bayern Munich’s letterhead each December.
It’s a great idea by the authorities (DFL, Bild) this, a triumph of creative packaging, designed to confer quasi-contender status on teams who aren’t actual contenders. The hunter’s lot is to chase his prey, you see, with success being strictly optional. Trouble is though, even this rather meek job description sounds far, far too daunting for top flight members.
Bundesliga clubs have long made a habit of preemptively downplaying their chances and dismissing all talk of getting anywhere near the Red overlords altogether. This anti-competitive submissiveness predates the arrival of Pep Guardiola – and indeed the Bavarians being a really good side – by a couple of decades.
It has become so thoroughly entrenched, psychologically, as to be self-fulfilling. Only Borussia Dortmund have dared to challenge the existing order, by way of “thinking from game to game”, in recent years. And some would say that the Black & Yellow rebels had to pay a hefty price for that insubordination, having been stripped off Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski since 2013.
That chilling precedent might explain why Wolfsburg have been quick to distance themselves from all “Bayernjäger” talk despite a very solid run that has seen them keep pace with the league leaders, albeit seven points behind. “We don’t hunt Bayern, I don’t have to repeat that every single week,” the Wolves coach Dieter Hecking said a bit impatiently on Saturday. His team had just won 3-1 at Hecking’s former club, Hannover – their eighth win in nine league games – and even the Bayern captain, Philipp Lahm, agrees they represent the best chance anyone has in terms of spoiling another Munich procession.
They’ve never had as many as 29 points after 14 league games before. Still, Hecking is having none of it. “Bayern are the outstanding team [in the league],” said the 50-year-old. “If we are to catch them, they’ll have to play with seven men.” That remains an implausible prospect at this stage, the fact that Guardiola and the professional fly goalkeeper Manuel Neuer would probably relish that numerical challenge notwithstanding.
Wolfsburg, in their own minds, have enough on their plate making it into the Champions League places (“We want to establish ourselves among the top four in the next few years,” said the sporting director Klaus Allofs, the man widely credited with the improved output at the Volkwagen-owned club) before they are to seriously entertain any thoughts of a repeat of their 2009 championship heroics.
For now, being seen as bona fide top of the table team is the extent of their ambition. “We are recognised as a serious player again in the Bundesliga,” Dr Garcia Sanz, the chairman of the supervisory board, told Kicker proudly. “Let us write a new story of success with VfL Wolfsburg: A young club sustaining its position at the top of football thanks to clever concepts, patience and hard work.”
A bit of money hasn’t hurt either. VW has pumped countless millions of Euros into the club, and accountants from Uefa’s Financial Fair Play department will carefully examine the balance sheet. “They will visit us,” admitted Allofs. According to Welt, the Lower Saxons expect to be given a clean bill of health by Michel Platini’s men.
For the time being, Hecking will find it easy to decline an MBE (Mutiny against the Bavarian Empire) award from his peers; Bayern are so far ahead that they’re effectively chasing their own tails this season. It will be interesting to see how long Wolves can stay the course of self-imposed humility in light of their owner’s deep pockets, however.
The success of their VFL women’s team, who won the domestic title and the Champions League last season, would suggest that the men are on course for silverware before too long as well. “They are in a better position, financially, than all other Bundesliga clubs – including Bayern,” the Mainz general manager Christian Heidel has warned. Indeed, Volkswagen’s wealth is such that they might just sit back and let the leaders in the field win the titles for them. Through its subsidiary Audi, it owns 9% of Bayern. That’s the equivalent of 2.16 championships, 1.53 DFB Cups and almost half of a European Cup.
Talking points and results
• Augsburg, in third place, are also in acute danger of having the “Bayernjäger” label pinned on them, especially if they manage beat Guardiola’s men for a second year running at the SGL Arena next weekend. “That wasn’t a one-off [result],” vowed FCA’s sporting director Stefan Reuter, tongue firmly in cheek. While the buildup to this unlikely top-of-the-table clash will include plenty of semi-serious fighting talk from the likes of the midfielder Tobias Werner –“We want to annoy them” – the real story is the sensational performance of the Fuggerstädter (careful with the pronunciation) in what is only their fourth season at this level. On Saturday, they beat Köln 2-1 at the RheinEnergieStadion – yet more proof of their extraordinary togetherness and fantastic work of the coach Markus Weinzierl. “Let us taste a few cookies, then we will see where we are come springtime,” said the goalkeeper Alex Manninger. An Austrian saying, apparently.
• Bayern beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in game that was high on tactical finesse but a little low on goalmouth action. Franck Ribéry’s 100th goal in a Bayern shirt secured all three points as the substitute Sebastian Rode emerged as a surprise matchwinner after his introduction in the second half. “He’s a great guy, he always steps on the gas when he’s on the pitch,” said Guardiola, full of praise.
• Leverkusen’s narrow defeat ensured that fifth spot in the league would remain vacant this weekend. They’re now joint fourth with Schalke 04, aptly enough, who won 4-0 at the new home of their former coach of the century, Huub Stevens. A goal from Max Meyer and a hat-trick from Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting made for the excellent result away to Stuttgart. A first sign of real progress under Roberto Di Matteo, perhaps? The Swabians, to be sure, are deep in trouble in 18th spot. Their mascot, Fritzle, will know his way around the basement, presumably.
• In Dortmund, by contrast, it was a case of A-Kloppalypse (copyright James Richardson) Not Now. BVB beat TSG Hoffenheim 1-0 (Ilkay Gundogan, 17) to leap off the bottom all the way to 14th spot. The home side had a goal wrongly disallowed but also got lucky for a change: Tarik Elyounoussi went down under the challenge of Neven Subotic in the box but the ref waved play on. Dortmund did look much more like their former self as Klopp was able to feature his best back four (Piszczek, Hummels, Subotic, Schmelzer) for the first time since the 2013 Champions League final and Gundogan excelled in the number 10 role. The veteran goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, however, was benched for Mitch Langerak. The 34-year-old, one of the worst performers in recent weeks, might find it hard to reclaim his place.
Results: Dortmund 1-0 Hoffenheim, Bayern 1-0 Leverkusen, Hannover 1-3 Wolfsburg, Stuttgart 0-4 Schalke, Paderborn 1-1 Freiburg, Gladbach 3-2 Hertha, Köln 1-2 Augsburg, Hamburg 2-1 Mainz, Frankfurt 5-2 Bremen.
