2 FATES AT BAY

Written by: Floyd Nkanyane

2 Fates will come to play at the end of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season with much of the spotlight on defending champions Bayern Munich. The Bavarian giants managed to snatch the league title from their classic rivals Borussia Dortmund on the last day of the previous season to make it 11 league titles in a row.

This triggered an interlinked TGA (Transient global amnesia) on the executives at the Santiago Bernabeu and Allianz Arena. With one forgetting about Kylian Mbappe for a week and acquire the services of star man Jude Bellingham from the Signal Induna Park and the Bavarians smashing the Bundesliga record (again) by paying Tottenham 100 million Euros for star striker Harry Kane respectively. So what 2 fates am I on about? Well, allow me to say that on the 18^th of May 2024, the Bundesliga will either be Bayern Kaned or Bayer Neverkusened. Alas, it all occurs before.

Background check: Bayern Dominance

The Bavarian powerhouse have dominated the Bundesliga for a complete decade now with managers Jupp Heynckes, Josep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Niko Kovac, Hansi Flick, Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel all taking charge at the helm. Bayern broke countless Bundesliga records during the past 11 seasons of Techno Football era, winning two continental trebles in 7 years (only bested by Barcelona with 6 years). But has the Star of the South finally lost its shine? Yes. Since the sacking of former chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić and oh, couple that with the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as manager, things have been uphill.

Let us rewind back to last season, March 24th. Nagelsmann gets sacked even though the team is competing for a continental treble. Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel takes over with one objective to accomplish, repeat the exploits of 2021, outclass Pep Guardiola and his Cityzens. Not to be. Reality check on the 4^th of April at home in the last 8 of the DFB-Pokal encounter with Freiburg. Bayern lost 2-1 at the Allianz Arena although they immediately avenged that defeat with a 1-0 win at the Europa-Park, that below-par attitude was followed up by a 3-0 thrashing at the City of Manchester Stadium (Etihad Stadium) from the Sky Blues in the Champions League. So in exactly a month since sacking Nagelsmann, Bayern are left to compete for 2^nd spot in the league with no chance of retaining the league until Dortmund felt pity and loosened their grip on the title. Fast forward to 330 days later, Bayern are considering parting ways with Thomas Tuchel.

1^st Fate: The Gift of Coman or the Curse of Kane

Kingsley Coman is the only player to have won the league title in every season he has played in since turning professional. However that record is having an endurance test from the mighty curse of Harry Kane who on the other hand is yet to win any tournament or league, club or country.

Kingsley Coman’s list of honours:

Paris Saint-Germain

• Ligue 1: 2012–13, 2013–14
• Trophée des Champions: 2013

Juventus

• Serie A: 2014–15
• Coppa Italia: 2014–15
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2015
• UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2014–15

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
• DFB-Pokal: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20
• DFL-Supercup: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
• UEFA Champions League: 2019–20
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2020

France

• FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2022
• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2016
• Well, well, well for Harry Kane, Bayern must win the Champions League. They played well in the 2^nd leg of the last 16 against Lazio. Kane was on the double to help guide the team to a 3-1 aggregate victory over The Eagles of Rome. However, they still trail Leverkusen by a mammoth 10 points and I can’t see Leverkusen duplicating the Dortmund of last season. It is what it is and chances are minimum they will lift anything at the end of the season unless they avoid or best Real Madrid and Manchester City.Harry Kane’s list of honours:

Tottenham Hotspur

• Football League Cup/EFL Cup runner-up: 2014–15, 2020–21
• UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2018–19

Bayern Munich

• DFB-Supercup runner-up: 2023

England

• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2020
• UEFA Nations League third place: 2018–19

2^nd Fate: Dr. Xabi Alonso in a Leverkusen lab

Xabi Alonso is less than 10 games away from Leverkusen immortality with the current target set on 85pts provided both Bayer and Bayern win all of their remaining league games. Leverkusen also dubbed ”Neverkusen” for their astonishing collection of silver medals on a domestic and continental level has seen the team earn a series of four 2nd place finishes from 1997 to 2002. The conclusions of the 2000 and 2002 seasons were heart-rending for the Black and Reds, as on both occasions the team had the Bundesliga title within its grasp. In 2000, Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw against SpVgg Unterhaching to win the title, but an own goal by Michael Ballack only helped the team to an agonizing 2–0 defeat, while the Bavarians won the title with a 3–1 victory over Werder Bremen. Two years later, the club squandered a 5-point lead atop the Bundesliga table by losing 2 of its last 3 matches, while Borussia Dortmund managed three consecutive victories in their final matches. In the same season Bayer Leverkusen were also beaten 4–2 in the DFB-Pokal final by Schalke 04 and lost the UEFA Champions League final 2–1 to Real Madrid. Leverkusen was the first team to reach the final of the Champions League without ever winning the national championship. In addition, five members of the Company’s Eleven team were also members of the Germany national team which lost the final of the World Cup of 2002 to Brazil. 22 years later, the team can lift 2 domestic trophies including that elusive maiden League title and can even add the UEFA Europa League to the cabinet.

Hidden Destiny: Both Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte have availed themselves for the Bayern hot seat. Meanwhile word in Munich is Bayern have opened discussions with current Leverkusen manager, Xabi Alonso. Wow. Who has your vote to replace Thomas Tuchel?