Dust down your lederhosen, fill up your stein and get ready for some fussball!
While the Premier League’s return date is still being mulled over, Germany’s Bundesliga will resume this weekend after a lengthy pause. The German top-flight is the first major European league to return to action since the coronavirus shut down – and we can’t wait to get stuck in.
Of course, while we do finally have some football to keep us entertained (not that we weren’t getting a suitable fix from the Belarusian Vysheyshaya Liga, of course), we’re still a long way away from the usual fantasy football fun that goes along with it.
So we’ve done the next best thing and worked out just how good some of the Bundesliga’s biggest names would be if they’d scored points on Dream Team this season – by using WhoScored’s rating system, Dream Team’s scoring metrics, and then doing the sums.
Keep in mind that Mohamed Salah is currently leading our Dream Team points table with 211 points ahead of his Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane (207) and Man City’s Kevin de Bruyne (195), while Jamie Vardy is the Prem’s top scorer with 19 goals and Adama Traore has the most Star Man awards with 10.
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – 325 points
Lewandowski is having the season of his life. The Bayern striker knows the back of the net like the back of his hand, having won the Bundesliga’s top scorer award four times over the years – but this campaign has arguably seen him at his most prolific.
So far, the Poland international has bagged 39 goals in all competitions – including 11 in the Champions League – which has gone a long way to helping him best Salah’s Dream Team haul by over 100 points more, and making him one of the best players in the world right now.
Jadon Sancho (Borrusia Dortmund) – 215 points
All the top teams want a piece of Sancho at the moment; Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United have all been heavily linked with the England winger in the last 12 months, as have Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. But in the meantime he’s on the books of Borussia Dortmund and, alongside BVB’s January signing Erling Braut Haaland, is one of world football’s most exciting young players.
A tally of 18 assists in all competitions is perhaps the 20-year-old’s most eye-catching stat this season, as is his starring role in Dortmund’s line-up with six Star Man awards. While he’s someway behind Lewandowski in our fictional points table, he’s four points better-off than our currently real-life leader Salah, while he’s one of the few players to boast double-figures for both goals and assists.
Timo Werner (RB Leipzig) – 267 points
Speaking of hot-property, Leipzig hitman Werner is another Bundesliga superstar linked with a move away – with Liverpool seemingly the favourites to snap him up. And with good reason, as the 24-year-old is seen as Germany’s answer to Harry Kane over the next few years with his keen eye for goal; he’s currently on 27 goals in all competitions this season, including the winner against Spurs in the first-leg of their recent Champions League tie.
He’s another player who would walk all over his Premier League counterparts this season, coming in just behind Lewandowski in our fictional points table thanks to his tally of goals and impressive nine Star Man awards.
Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen) – 123 points
Despite being only 20 years old, Havertz has already made 110 appearances in the Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 30 goals and providing 24 assists. He’s another who’s being eyed by the Premier League elite, with Man United said to be considering up to £100 million for his signature.
He’d certainly be a Dream Team favourite if he was in the Premier League, with his 10 goals in all competitions and haul of 14 ‘7+ ratings’ on WhoScored – enough to put him in the same category as fellow attacking-midfielders like Jack Grealish (131 points), Willian (131) and James Maddison (114).
Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich) – 205 points
The tormentor of Tottenham has big boots to fill at Bayern, having more-or-less taken the place of the recently retired Arjen Robben on the wing; but Gnabry has shown fans that he’s very capable of filling the void.
The former Arsenal man has notched double-figures for both goals and assists in all competitions this season – helped out by his incredible run-out against Spurs in the Champions League earlier in the season when he scored FOUR goals and picked up a perfect 10 rating on WhoScored – and that makes him Bayern’s second-highest goalscorer after Lewandowski.
With those sorts of numbers, we’d be talking about him on the same level as Salah (211 points), Mane (207) and Raheem Sterling (187).
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