The Bundesliga is celebrating its 50th anniversary season. (i´ll write a little bit about the history and why germany was the last country to introduce a nationwide professional football league later) Season starts on friday, 23rd with Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen, a match, which was also played on the Bundesliga start in 1963 (and the first goal was scored there).
Here are the 18 clubs. The order of clubs is by the way the one i expect as the outcome of the season.
1. Borussia Dortmund, Founded: 1909, Club members: 68,000
Stadium: Westfalenstadion (sponsor name: Signal Iduna Park)
Capacity: 80,645 (27,359 stands and 53,286 seats)
Titles:
Champions League: 1
Cup winner´s cup: 1
German Champion: 8
German cup: 3
Club team manager: Michael Zorc, Coach: Jürgen Klopp
Team:
Weidenfeller – Schmelzer, Hummels, Subotic, Piszczek – Bender, Gündogan – Großkreutz, Reus, Götze – Lewandowski
Key Subs: Kehl, Perisic, Blaszcykowski
Average Team age: 24,3
2. Bayern München, Founded: 1900, Club members: 183,100
Stadium: Allianz-Arena, Capacity: 69,000 (5,000 stands and 64,000 seats)
Titles:
Champions League, Champions cup: 4
Cup winner´s cup: 1
UEFA Cup 1
German Champion: 22
German cup: 15
Club team manager: Matthias Sammer, Coach: Jupp Heynckes
Team:
Neuer – Alaba, Badstuber, Boateng, Lahm – Gustavo, Schweinsteiger –Ribery, Kroos Robben – Gomez
Key Subs: Müller, Shaquiri, Mandzukic
Average Team age: 25,5
3. FC Schalke 04, Founded: 1904, Club members: 110,529
Stadium: Arena auf Schalke, (Sponsor name: Veltins-Arena)
Capacity: 61,673 (16,309 stands and 45,364 seats)
Titles:
UEFA Cup 1
German Champion: 7
German cup: 5
Club team manager: Horst Heldt, Coach: Huub Stevens
Team:
Hildebrandt – Fuchs, Matip, Höwedes, Uchida – Jones, Neustädter – Barnetta, Holtby, Farfan – Huntelaar
Key Subs: Papadopoulos, Draxler, Jurado
Average Team age: 25,1
4. Borussia Mönchengladbach, Founded 1900, Club members: 55,100
Stadium: Borussia-Park, Capacity: 54,010 (16,145 stands and 37,865 seats)
Titles:
UEFA Cup 2
German Champion: 5
German cup: 3
Club team manager: Max Eberl, Coach: Lucien Favre
Team:
Ter Stegen – Daems, Alvaro Dominguez, Stranzl, Jantschke – Xhaka, Nordtveit – Arango, Herrmann, Hanke, De Jong
Key Subs: De Camargo, Brouwers, Mlapa
Average Team age: 24,2
5. VfL Wolfsburg Founded 1945, Club members: 19,000
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena, Capacity: 30,000 (8,000 stands and 22,000 seats)
Titles:
German Champion: 1
Club team manager and Coach: Felix Magath
Team:
Benaglio – Rodriguez, Pogatetz, Naldo, Fagner – Josue, Schäfer, Jiracek, Diego – Olic, Dost
Key Subs: Helmes, Pilar, Dejagah
Average Team age: 25,8
6. Bayer Leverkusen, Founded 1904, Club members: 26,550
Stadium: Bay-Arena, Capacity: 30,210 seats
Titles:
UEFA Cup 1
German Cup: 1
Club team manager; Rudi Völler Coach: Sascha Lewandowski, Sami Hyypiä
Team:
Leno –Kadlec, Toprak, Wollscheid, Carvajal – Castro, Rolfes, Bender, Schürrle, Renato Augusto – Kießling
Key Subs: Reinartz, Sam, Schwaab
Average Team age: 24,3
To be continued