Even by Bayern Munich standards, it’s been an unusually dominant year in Germany.
A 4-0 win at Heidenheim on Sunday meant Vincent Kompany’s team ends 2025 nine points clear in the Bundesliga, well on the way to retaining the title it won back in May after Bayer Leverkusen’s one-season reign. A first domestic double since 2020 is possible, too.
“It was an amazing year. To be able to win the league with this team was really special for me,” Bayern striker Harry Kane said Sunday. “I felt like from that moment, even in the Club World Cup (in June), we started to build a spirit and a team energy that’s hard to break.”
Just once in 2025 has Bayern lost to German opposition, 3-2 against humble Bochum in March. The team’s goal difference 15 games into this Bundesliga season is a barely believable +44, far more than any other team in Europe’s “big five” leagues.
Kane has scored 30 goals for Bayern in all competitions this season, while Luis Díaz has shone since arriving from Liverpool for a reported 75 million euros ($87 million) and 17-year-old Lennart Karl has been a revelation.
Even long-term injuries to Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano couldn’t slow Bayern down as the team started 2025-26 on a 16-game winning run.
So what comes next?
The next frontier
Winning the Bundesliga is the minimum for any Bayern coach. The club has done a solid job in replicating that German consistency in Europe this season, but the real tests are yet to come.
A quarterfinal exit to Inter Milan in the 2024-25 Champions League was a tough blow, while losing to Paris Saint-Germain at the same stage of the Club World Cup was more understandable, especially since that game saw a grisly injury to Musiala.
Bayern is now second in the Champions League table and won plaudits for its grit in beating PSG with 10 men, though a meek 3-1 loss to Arsenal was a warning there’s still work left to do.
There’s also the German Cup. Since Bayern’s last win in 2020, it hasn’t been past the quarterfinals.
Coach Kompany has a decision to make when Musiala finally returns from the leg fracture that’s kept him out since July. Does he change a winning team to incorporate a player who was crucial to Bayern last season but is yet to play with Díaz?
The flawed contenders
Bayern’s consistency is mirrored by the instability of its main German rivals.
Second-place Borussia Dortmund ends the year with unrest in the squad after defender Nico Schlotterbeck criticized his teammates’ work rate and forward Karim Adeyemi protested against a decision to substitute him.
Leverkusen started the year in chaos with coach Erik ten Hag dismissed after three games, though Kasper Hjulmand has steadied the ship and even stunned Manchester City.
A lack of European games has allowed Leipzig to focus on the Bundesliga, but it’s a long way from the league’s best, as shown in a 6-0 loss to Bayern on opening day and a 3-1 loss to Leverkusen in the last game before the winter break.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer