Favorites to win the 2. Bundesliga in 2024/25

1. Hamburger SV (last season: 4th)

Hamburg, newly nicknamed “Dino of the 2. Bundesliga", are going into their 8th consecutive season in Germany's second highest league. A once great of the Bundesliga, Hamburg have been struggling to finally get back to the first tier. But maybe their biggest disappointment last season was seeing local rival 1.FC St. Pauli gain promotion - while they themselves were stuck in 4th.

But the self labeled “biggest club in north Germany” have reason to believe and hope that this will be their last season in the 2. Bundesliga. In Steffen Baumgart, Hamburg have a coach with lots of Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga experience. Baumgart took over at Hamburg last season after matchday 21 - this time, he will be able to have a full season with HSV. Baumgart is keen on getting back into the Bundesliga - and also brought in big names: Davie Selke from Köln and Adam Karabec from Sparta Prague. Selke in particular is being tipped as a potential top scorer this season!

Adding to that, Hamburg did only lose one key player in Lazlo Benes (to Union Berlin); they were able to keep hold of the likes of Robert Glatzel, Immanuel Pherai, Ludovit Reis and even Bakery Jatta.

But the biggest hope comes from Hamburg's form in this July's friendlies, where they've beaten the likes of Nantes (FRA), Lübeck, Drochtersen and TUS Neetze, scoring a staggering 26 goals in the process. According to betting sites and some experts, HSV are the favorite for promotion and the league title.

2. 1.FC Köln (last season: 17th in the BuLi)

The biggest club to go down last season: Köln will definitely be looking to gain promotion and get right back into Germany's first tier. New coach Gerhard Struber, previously at RB Salzburg, was not able to sign any new players for Köln because of a transfer ban. However, this fact does not change the fact that Köln have one of the most expensive squads in the league!

Even though some key players from last season, namely Julian Chabot (Stuttgart) and Davie Selke (Hamburg), left the club after getting relegated, Köln were able to convince other first team players to stay and fight for promotion. In addition to that, they got some players back from their loans in 2023/24, who will likely fit straight into their first team, such as the young goalkeeper Jonas Urbig (20), who had a fantastic year at Greuther Fürth in the 2. Bundesliga.

Similar to Hamburg, their opponent on matchday 1, Köln have had a stellar time in their preparation for the season, beating big teams like Udinese (ITA) 3-2 and Swansea (ENG) 2-1. The star players in pre-season have been the striker Damion Downs, wingers Jan Thielmann and Tim Lemperle and new defensive “boss” Eric Martel. Köln will be a fun side to watch this season!

3. Fortuna Düsseldorf (last season: 3rd)

Düsseldorf already had one leg in the Bundesliga after their 3-0 victory against Bochum in the first leg of their promotion battle. But after a dramatic penalty shootout loss, Düsseldorf find themselves in the 2. Bundesliga once again. Coach Daniel Thioune is hopeful for the next season, especially since Düsseldorf were able to keep key players like Ao Tanaka and Shinta Appelkamp. 

They are missing their star player of the last season, Christos Tzolis, who scored 22 goals in the 2023/24 season: his loan to Düsseldorf is now over and they could not find an agreement with Norwich City. 

As a team which already worked well together last year, Düsseldorf fans can be hopeful for the next season - but their pre season has been “hit and miss”: wins against Galatasaray Istanbul and newly-promoted Premier League side Ipswich on the one hand, but losses against league opponent Kaiserslautern and lower league side Offenbach on the other hand. Düsseldorf will be difficult to predict once again - and maybe they will find themselves in a similar position to last season.

4. Hertha BSC Berlin (last season: 9th)

“Die alte Dame” go into their second season the 2. Bundesliga. The first year back has been well under their own expectations: 9th place in the league, never really close to getting their hopes up for promotion. Hertha are proof of the fact that the step from the Bundesliga back down to the 2. Bundesliga is more difficult than many would expect.

Interestingly, Hertha have also been able to keep almost all players of their first team from last season; the only important player who has left them is Bence Dardai (Wolfsburg). Hertha were surprisingly able to keep one of the best players of the last season, Fabian Reese, at their club, even though many Bundesliga sides were reportedly interested in the winger. The clubs big name (and money of course) was additionally enough to bring in new players to strengthen the squad: Kevin Sessa from Heidenheim, Diego Demme from Napoli and Michael Cuisance from Osnabrück.

New coach Cristian Fiel has a clear and different vision to former coach and club legend Pal Dardai and proved that in pre season, where Hertha were able to gain some confidence before the season starts. After last season's finish, Hertha most definetly have a chip on their shoulder and want to prove to football Germany that they belong in the Bundesliga.

5. Schalke 04 (last season: 10th)

Many football fans in Germany want to see the “Königsblauen” back in the Bundesliga. But last season was one to forget for Schalke: for a long time, they were fighting against relegation to the 3rd tier, only a good run in the last few games of the season saved the historic club from disaster. This season, however, will be very different.

Coach Karel Geraerts has finally had enough time to prepare his team for this difficult challenge; in order to succeed this time, he brought in some new players, most notably Emil Højlund, brother of Manchester United forward Rasmus Højlund, ex-Bundesliga star Amin Younes and Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, who had a great season with Eintracht Braunschweig in the 2. Bundesliga last year.

At Schalke there is always a lot of noise and trouble in the background and after the loss of their latest wonderkid Assan Ouedraogo, many fans are not as hopeful as they would like to be for the coming season. But for the first time in a long time, it seems as though Schalke were able to bring some quiet to the club - they've done their transfers early, they decided to stick with their coach and they've built a clear structure within the club and team. 

Let's see if they can do the opposite to last year - and give their emotional fans a good surprise and start to the season!

Dark horses:

• Hannover 96 (last season: 6th)
  • Big transfers (Ngankam, Rochelt) + great pre season (even beating Wolfsburg!)
• Darmstadt 98 (last season: 18th in the BuLi)
  • Kept the core of their winning team in 2022/23!
• Karlsruher SC (last season: 5th)
  • Consistency last season + good pre season!
• 1.FC Nürnberg (last seaon: 12th)
  • new coach: Germany legend Miroslav Klose!