Bayern Munich have dominated the Bundesliga since the first time they joined the league and it has become harder for other teams to catch up to them. Hans Joachim Watzke, the Borussia Dortmund chairman, predicts that the Bavarians will crumble in a few years.
The CEO of BVB claims that despite Bayern winning 10 Bundesliga titles in a row, an historical record in Europe’s top 5 leagues, their dominance won’t last for long. Speaking to Deutschlandfunk (via BILD), Watzke predicts that Bayern will have its fall in a few years: „At some point, they will crumble, at some point in the next few years they will collapse. Like Paris Saint-Germain, and the same thing happened to Juventus Turin.“
The last time a Bundesliga club won the league that wasn’t named Bayern Munich was in the 2011-12 season; that was Borussia Dortmund. Since then, the Borussens have been not able to catch up to the Bavarians and in the last few years RB Leipzig have proven to be a more formidable opponent than Dortmund. According to the statistics, Dortmund have bought more inside of the league (29), and have spent most money on them, that’s 140 million euro more than Bayern, and 8 Bundesliga players more than Bayern. The sentiment that Bayern buys the league is quite false.
Nevertheless, the thought of Bayern failing in the league has always been Watzke’s sentiment every year. This year is no exception. And he is aware that the more people claim Bayern will crumble, the opposite will just happen, but the thought is rather a „gut feeling“:: „The more we talk about it, the more we encourage Bayern to be even more careful. But I think something like that will happen in the next 3 years, that’s my feeling.“
Most recently, a new model to determine the new Bundesliga champion was introduced via playoffs, however, it hasn’t been yet put into realization. Watzke thinks that Bundesliga is doing well, but worries about the competition: „The league is working extremely well. The only thing that isn’t working right now is the title fight.“
The chairman thinks is too early for the model to be introduced, but has to be considered in the future: „I don’t see the time yet. But if the attractiveness of the Bundesliga kept declining over the next five years, and Bayern Munich kept winning, you might have to think about it. Now I think it’s too early to dwell on that.“
