The season begins on Saturday for the German Bundesliga, and there are a lot of exciting match-ups. We will take a more in-depth look in Sunday’s match between hosts Borussia Dortmund and visitors RB Leipzig. The home team did a mediocre job in the Bundesliga last season and barely secured a ticket to the Champions League this season. RB Leipzig had a pretty strong season, not like past years but pretty strong overall. Both teams made few changes to their rosters, but they have been reinforced overall.
Borussia Dortmund did not have the best of seasons last year, as they finished 4th in the Bundesliga with 55 points (15-9-10). A bad run in their previous three matches of the season almost cost them the 4th spot and the Champions League ticket that comes with it. They featured the 3rd best offense in the league with 64 goals, and the 6th best defense with 47 conceded. They were pretty strong at home last season (9-4-4), where they scored 40 goals against 21 conceded. Borussia Dortmund were also pretty hard to beat on the road (6-5-6), but they struggled a lot to take results at the end of the season. The team did not make a lot of changes in the roster but brought in some significant reinforcements. They locked down the midfield with Thomas Delaney and Axel Witsel and brought in Real Madrid’s promising defender Achraf Hakimi on a loan deal. They lost Papastathopoulos, Casto, Yarmolenko, and Durm, while Andre Schurrle was sent on a loan.
On the other hand, RB Leipzig tried to balance three different competitions last season but didn’t shine in any. They finished 6th in the Bundesliga with 53 points and were granted a ticket to the Europa League qualifiers. They are now in the midst of the qualification process and held for a goalless draw on the road against Zaria on Thursday. RB Leipzig played in the Champions League last season, but finished 3rd in their group and were demoted to the Europa League. They made a pretty solid run to the quarter-finals, where they suffered a bad elimination against French side Marseille. RB Leipzig were quite tough to beat at home last season (9-4-4) and were quite feisty on the road too (6-7-4). The team sold their best midfielder, Keita, to Liverpool over the summer, and used the cash to bring in young talents like Saracchi, Cunha, and Mukiele.