Ranking the most likely teams to challenge Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga next season
Bayern Munich romped to a second straight Bundesliga crown last term, their 13th triumph in 14 seasons. And truth be told, it was never a close-run thing.
Harry Kane's mighty haul of 61 goals in 51 games in all competitions — 36 in 25 starts in the Bundesliga — led the way, with each of his strike partners Michael Olise and Luis Diaz both chipping in with at least 20 apiece. Those exploits helped the Bavarians finish 16 points clear of runners-up Borussia Dortmund, and that's not all. Bayern also dispatched Stuttgart in both the DFB Pokal final and the German Super Cup, completing a first domestic treble for the Munich outfit in six years.
The gap back to the rest of the chasing pack has arguably never been larger, and the early betting odds ahead of next season prove exactly that. The latest soccer betting at Bovada odds position Bayern as a clear 1/9 favorite to retain the Meisterschale next term. To put that into layman's terms, you would need to stake €9 on the defending champions in order to receive just €1 in winnings.
So, can anyone take the fight to Kane and Co. next season? Here are the most likely contenders to do exactly that.
Borussia Dortmund
Throughout Bayern's dominant recent era, Borussia Dortmund have long been considered their biggest threat, and 2026/27 looks set to be no different. Prior to Bayer Leverkusen's shock maiden Bundesliga crown in 2024, it was Die Schwarzgelben who were the last team not named "Bayern Munich" to win a German title, winning back-to-back titles under Jürgen Klopp in 2011 and 2012. Since then, however, success has been few and far between.
BVB have come close on occasions. They missed out on the Meisterschale in 2023 on the final day of the season, needing just a win at home to lowly Mainz in order to claim the crown, eventually drawing 2-2. They also missed out by just two points back in 2019, when the brilliance of Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho wasn't enough to overthrow the almighty Bayern.
Last term was one of rebuilding at Signal Iduna Park under former Bayern boss Niko Kovac. Under his watch, German talents such as Nico Schlotterbeck, Felix Nmecha, and Maximilian Beier all emerged as genuine superstars, with each of them earning call-ups to the national team for this summer's World Cup. Now, however, if Dortmund are to challenge Bayern, they will have their work cut out, especially at the start of the season.
Key playmaker Julian Brandt has left the club, while Karim Adeyemi has also departed, heading for the bright lights of Barcelona. If that wasn't bad enough, Schlotterbeck could well miss the first few weeks and even months of the new season after suffering an ankle injury at the World Cup. Highly rated Salzburg center back Joane Gadou has since arrived, and he will need to deliver the goods from the get-go if Dortmund are to sustain a title challenge.
RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig returned to form last season after a dismal campaign in 2024/25. That year, the Red Bulls missed out on European qualification for the first time since they were promoted to the Bundesliga back in 2016. Last term, however, they secured a spot in the top four, and now they are looking to return to the kind of form that saw them regularly push Bayern all the way throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s.
The star of the show was without question Yan Diomande. The Ivorian winger was in blistering form throughout the course of the campaign, but it's highly unlikely he will remain with the club, with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool on the hunt for his signature. Experienced midfielder Xaver Schlager is also gone, having departed at the expiry of his contract in the summer, and the pressure is now on Leipzig's never-ending conveyor belt of young talent to step up and be counted.
23-year-old French center back Castello Lukeba is someone who has emerged as one of the top Bundesliga defenders in recent years, and he will be joined at the heart of the defense by fellow Frenchman Maxime Estève, who recently arrived from Burnley. In attack, Antonio Nusa is now tasked with becoming Leipzig's focal point following Diomande's impending departure. While there is no doubt a slew of young talent, it would be a major shock if the Red Bulls claimed their first Meisterschale next season.
Bayer Leverkusen
Heading into the 2023/24 season, Bayern Munich had won each of the last 11 Bundesliga titles. Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, had never won a single one, famously throwing away a five-point lead with just three games remaining in 2002 to earn the nickname "Neverkusen." Two years ago, however, they claimed the title for the first time, and they did so in a manner that the mighty Bayern never had: Without losing a single game.
That was two years ago, though, and manager Xabi Alonso as well as superstars such as Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Granit Xhaka, Alex Grimaldo, and Victor Boniface are all long gone. In their place come a new crop of young stars headlined by defender Jarrell Quansah, a man who reached the semi-finals of the World Cup with England this summer. He is joined in defense by 2024 title winner Edmond Tapsoba, while Ibrahim Maza, Mallik Tillman, and Ernest Poku provide the creativity in attack.
Patrick Schick remains the main source of goals, netting 22 of them in all competitions last season. But his goalscoring exploits only managed to fire Leverkusen to sixth place in the table, and they will need to overturn a whopping 30-point deficit if they are to challenge Bayern next season.
