The German record champions are down on their usual standards, despite being top of the league, but the team in second place could well overhaul them on Wednesday.
f any team other than Bayern Munich are going to win the Bundesliga this season, then two things need to happen. One, Bayern need to have a bad season by their own standards and two, that other contending team need to have an exceptional one.
It tells you plenty about Bayern’s stupendously high standards that they are top of the league after 15 matches despite being some way down on their usual potency. It tells you plenty about the disruption that RB Leipzig have caused this season that they sit next to Bayern at the top – level on points and behind only on goal difference.
The two elements necessary for an interloper to win the league are very much in play. Bayern have 36 points. They have not had so few at this stage of a season since 2011-12 – co-incidentally the last time they failed to win the league.
The last time a team in second place behind Bayern after 15 matches had won so many points was in 2013-14 when Bayer Leverkusen had 37 on the board.
It puts into perspective Bayern’s dominance of the landscape there that they are regarded as being in a bit of a slump while Leipzig are enjoying their best-ever season and both are level on points. It’s all to do with perspective. Bayern are currently doing just enough to hold Leipzig at bay but all the indications are that they are struggling to replicate the consistency of seasons gone by.
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