The 2024–2025 Bundesliga season is already underway. Bayer Leverkusen, the defending champions kicked off their season with an opening match Borussia Monchengladbach. Borussia Dortmund took on Eintracht Frankfurt while Bayern Munich faced Wolfsburg. Germany's top-tier football league is well-known for its fierce fan support, close games, and legendary rivalries between teams like Dortmund and Bayern Munich. A new season of the Bundesliga brings with it a new wave of excitement with fresh young talents on the field. Here is all you need to know as the season 2024-2025 is in play now. 

This Bundesliga season, what's new?

In the previous season Cologne and Darmstadt were demoted, taking their place in the premier football league are Holstein Kiel and St. Pauli. The clubs were promoted from the second tier to join the rest of the elite Bundesliga team. St. Pauli returns to the league after a 13-year break. They also have a new coach on board, Alexander Blessin, who replaced the highly regarded Fabian Hürzeler, who resigned to manage Brighton in the Premier League. Kiel on the other side will be making their Bundesliga debut this season.

Coaching Changes 

After Bayern Munich’s dominance in the league ended, the club decided to bring in a new coach to reenergize the team. Vincent Kompany, who was also the former captain of Manchester City, is the next head coach of Bayern Munich. Borussia Dortmund also made some coaching changes, club veteran Nuri Sahin has taken the place of Edin Terzic. Terzic resigned following an unpredictable season that saw Dortmund struggle domestically while still making it to the Champions League final. After the previous season, the 12-year Freiburg coach, Christian Streich left as well. Julian Schuster, a former Freiburg captain, is the next manager. Additionally, Union Berlin and  Bochum also have new coaches, Bo Svensson and Peter Zeidler respectively. 

Key Player Movements

That was all about the managers, the 2024–2025 Bundesliga season will miss two Bundesliga icons, Marco Reus and Mats Hummels. The pair left at the end of the previous campaign. Along with Sebastian Rode, Makoto Hasebe, Patrick Herrmann, and Tony Jantschke, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. The talented Xavi Simons also decided to stay on loan at RB Leipzig for a second season, despite initially appearing to be headed back to PSG. 

A look back at major Bundesliga transfers

Bayern Munich reinforced its squad with several new players, they spent a lot of money in the hopes of getting back their coveted crown. Along with the highly sought-after midfielder Joao Palhinha from Fulham and the highly-rated winger Michael Olise from Crystal Palace, the Japanese defender Hiroki Ito joined the side from Stuttgart. With the arrival of Serhou Guirassy and Waldemar Anton from Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund has also been rather active. Last season, Guirassy scored 28 goals in 28 games for Stuttgart; perhaps, the Guinean striker can replicate that success for the squad wearing yellow and black. Elsewhere, last season's surprise package Heidenheim lost their two best players Jan-Niklas Beste and Tim Kleindienst. Meanwhile, reigning champions Leverkusen acquired French winger Martin Terrier.

The race for Bundesliga title- Will Leverkusen be able to defend the title this season?

Leverkusen feels like anything is possible with both offensive sensation Florian Wirtz and master coach Xabi Alonso remaining. Alonso and co. have every reason to think they can contend for a league championship for a second consecutive year. Most of the squad is the same last year while main contenders Bayern and Dortmund will have new managers. Leverkusen had ended Bayern’s domination in the Bundesliga and now they have the opportunity to establish a small dynasty if they win back-to-back championships. The knowledge that Alonso and Wirtz will probably leave at the end of the season will probably motivate them, but the early indications point to another thrilling and unpredictable Bundesliga season.

New Players on the watch list

As with every league, the young players steal the show sometimes and this season a few fresh young stars have made an impression. The ones to keep an eye on include: Can Uzun, an 18-year-old striker who has already been capped for Turkey and just joined Frankfurt after deciding to play for his home nation of Turkey instead of Germany. The young player made a splash for Nürnberg the previous season as well. Another young star to watch for is Bayern Munich’s Paul Wanner, after two years and a successful loan stint with Elversberg, a second-division team, Wanner is currently on loan at Heidenheim where he will get some regular top-tier play time this season and contribute to the team's Europa Conference League campaign. How he deals with the pressure of top-flight competition would be exciting to see. 

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