Lothar Matthäus: Bayern have the Bundesliga's best line-up – but Leipzig have a better squad
Lothar Matthäus has warned Bayern München that they're not as strong in depth as many of their Bundesliga rivals.
| Lothar Matthäus. | Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
However, the former German international believes RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach all have better squads than the Bavarians, who he feels are lacking in depth.
"FC Bayern have the best starting eleven, but RB Leipzig have the best squad. If we look away from the first 11, 12 or 13 players and compare the two squads, I think Leipzig will be able to cope better with crisis phases in the event of injuries, suspensions and fatigue," Matthäus told Sport Bild and added:
"That doesn't necessarily mean that Leipzig will be champions, but Bayern must hope that they avoid certain things. I think that not only Leipzig, but other teams as well are better off in terms of depth.
"I'm definitely talking about Borussia Dortmund, but I also think Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach have more depth. As I said, Bayern's first eleven is at a top European level, but we've been discussing their squad for the past 13 or 14 months. When they won all their titles in 2020, Bayern were very well-positioned in terms of squad depth. At the Champions League tournament in Lisbon, every substitute was able to provide new impetus, and regular starters were given a breather. That was no longer the case last season. And with Alaba, Boateng and Martinez, three more players have left."
So far, Bayern have brought in Dayot Upamecano, Omar Richards and Sven Ulreich this summer. David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Jerome Boateng have all left the club permanently while Alex Nübel, Lars Mai, Joshua Zirkzee, Adrian Fein and Tiago Dantas have headed out on loan.