Bundesliga 2022-23 season: The big issues

Bundesliga is boring. Bayern Munich are favorites to win the title again. Borussia Dortmund signed Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck. RB Leipzig won the German Cup last season. The club's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke wants to qualify for the Champions League. He accepts that the team won't win it. It would be presumptuous to talk about the league title. "Leipzigs and Leverkusen would like it if Bayern don't become champions"

The 2022-23 Bundesliga season starts earlier and finishes earlier this year due to the World Cup in Qatar. The last round of fixtures is scheduled for the weekend of November 12. There are concerns about player welfare and the impact of COVID-19 on the previous three seasons.  There are also concerns over the possibility of the virus affecting the league again. Bayer Leverkusen's sporting director thinks the tournament is a disaster for clubs.

Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland left the Bundesliga this season. Dortmund's Watzke is confident the league can cope with the loss of the top scorers.

The 50+1 rule is at the heart of the debate about German football. Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga last season. Eintracht Frankfurt knocked Barcelona and West Ham out of Europa League last year. German fans would not want their club to be owned by a nation-state. German club officials believe 50-plus-1 rules are not a good idea. They argue that the league's attractivity is down to democratic participation.