The Premier League is considered the most competitive, most dramatic league in the world. But is it really so? Let’s look at the final round of the 2022/23 Bundesliga.
In the championship race, Dortmund holds the right to self-determination. Just winning Mainz will end Bayern Munich’s 11-year dominance in the Bundesliga. But what happened on Saturday night will be remembered forever as the most exciting final round in the history of the German league. Right at home, Dortmund was led, awarded a penalty but missed the shot. At the end of the first half, Dortmund lost 0-2. At the same time, Bayern are leading Cologne 1-0. The first place now belongs to the Gray Lobster.
In the 81st minute, Ljubicic suddenly equalized 1-1 for Cologne. If this score remains the same, Dortmund will be the champion, even if they lose to Mainz. But in the 89th minute, Musiala scored a beautiful goal to seal a 2-1 victory for Bayern. The first place moved from Dortmund to Bayern. Bayern’s match ended first. The Bayern players stood together, focused on watching the last minutes of the Dortmund match. The score is 2-2 in the 6th minute of injury time. If one more goal is scored, the silver disc will return to Dortmund. But there were no more goals. In the last round, the first place changed hands 3 times, before officially belonging to Bayern.
Not only the championship race, the Top 4 race also had the last lap swaps with Union Berlin and Freiburg. The relegation race saw Bochum’s spectacular escape, while Stuttgart from the advantage had to play the relegation play-off. In short, it was the final turn with all the elements to create the most memorable closing round in Bundesliga history.
Now, let’s go back to the Premier League. A final round of drama like the Bundesliga is something that the foggy country has not seen for a long time. In the championship race, Man City solved it 10 days ago. Last season, the championship was decided in the final round. But it has never been as dramatic as what happened in the Bundesliga. Round 38 last season, Man City met Aston Villa. And Liverpool host Wolves. Green Man was led by Aston Villa by 2 goals right at Etihad. But at the same time at Anfield, Liverpool also let Wolves hold. Until the end of the game, when Liverpool won against Wolves, Man City also won 3-2 against Aston Villa. Even when the Green Man let Aston Villa take such a deep lead, the first place has never left them in the final round.
In the 2020/21 season, Man City was crowned with 12 points more than the second team of the MU group. In the 2019/20 season, Liverpool took the throne with 18 points more than the Blue Man. In the 2018/19 season, Man City and The Kop created a tight race until the last round, but in the 38th round of that year, Pep’s army soon crushed Brighton 4-1 to close all the fragile hopes of Liverpool. . In short, it’s been a long time since fans have seen a championship race full of drama like what just happened in the Bundesliga.
11 years ago, Man City had to rely on Sergio Aguero’s third minute of injury time to overcome QPR to officially win the 2011/12 season. Such a tense, exciting race to the last second is something that the Premier League has not seen for a long time. It is the important spice that is still missing from the tournament that fans still consider the most attractive in the world. No wonder, the Premier League last night closed the curtain, but the fans saw it as pale.
Golden Ball
