The Weekly Take, Issue 111: Die Bullen's Loss Is the Blues' Gain

As the Bundesliga season draws to a close, the final league positions have begun to be settled. Bayern Munich have clinched the league title for an eighth consecutive season. Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, secured second place in the league by beating RB Leipzig 2-0. Erling Håland continued his blistering run of form by scoring both of Dortmund's goals. Leipzig simply had no answer for the young Norwegian whose legend is growing with every match.

During the build-up to this match, much of the focus had been centred on Timo Werner. Leipzig's German centre-forward had just confirmed that he will sign for Chelsea on July 1, 2020. The Blues paid €53 million to land Werner. Given the likely trajectory of Werner's career over the coming years, this could potentially be an absolute bargain for the London club.

Werner's departure and all the talk surrounding it might have been a distraction to Die Bullen. All their players, Werner included, played well below the level at which they are capable of playing. Thus, it was no surprise to see them go down tamely to their opponents.

After four excellent seasons in Saxony, it is no surprise to see the Stuttgart-born player leave the club. Now, it must be mentioned that Leipzig are one of the best-run clubs in the Bundesliga. Their front office and scouting department have done superbly over the past few years. As a result of their efforts, Leipzig is by no means a team devoid of talent; it is one of the most balanced and well-rounded teams in European football today.

Nevertheless, there are several obvious reasons why a rising star like Werner would leave Leipzig for Chelsea. Probably the most important of these is, of course, the money. Owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, Chelsea can afford to pay Werner a far higher salary than any he could ever have earned in Saxony.

It is also easier for Werner to build his personal brand as a Chelsea player than it would be if he were to remain at Leipzig. Although Leipzig have been on the rise in recent years while Chelsea have been stuck in a rut largely due to Abramovich's incompetence as an owner, the fact remains that Chelsea have much, much more cultural cache than do Leipzig. The two clubs are, quite frankly, not even in the same universe when it comes to public recognition and branding.

By moving to Stamford Bridge, Werner also increases his chances of winning the Champions League. At present, if the current Chelsea and Leipzig squads were to face off in a 10-match series, the German club would probably win seven or eight of them. However, Chelsea are set up beautifully for the future. Werner will form part of a formidable core which will also include fellow young star Christian Pulisic as well as the player who I believe is world's best defensive midfielder: N'Golo Kanté. To make things even more interesting, Werner is still just 24 years old while Pulisic is 21. Even after Kanté ages and declines, Werner and Pulisic will be likely to form one of the most lethal duos in world football, especially once both reach their prime years. They will also be surrounded by other capable supporting pieces of similar ages such as Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, and Tammy Abraham.

If (and this is a very big if indeed) Abramovich does not fail to build around his new core the same way he failed to build around former Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard, there is a real possibility that within the next few years, one or perhaps more Champions League titles might be coming Chelsea's way. Having said that, Abramovich's track record in this area has generally been abysmal; thus, the next few years could also easily be barren. In either case, these are exciting times to be a Chelsea fan.

That being said, this also isn't a total loss for Leipzig. The money they received is certainly substantial. They can use it to bolster their Champions League and Bundesliga campaigns next season if they spend it wisely - something which they have often done in recent times. There are several solid centre-forward in the market right now who could be signed to replace Werner.

Regardless, Chelsea will be more pleased with this transfer than will Leipzig. It's not every day that a club gets to sign a potential future Ballon d'Or winner. Chelsea now have two.

The Weekly Take, Issue 110: What a Difference a Year Makes

After a lengthy hiatus, La Liga has become the latest major European football league to resume action. The first match after the break was the Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Sevilla barely broke a sweat in their 2-0 victory against their crosstown rivals. Goals scored by Lucas Ocampos and Fernando set up the win for a club which has had a quietly impressive season.

Those of you who have followed my blog for long enough might recall that around a year ago, I wrote that the Andalusian club was one which was in disarray after a turbulent 2018-19 season. However, almost the exact opposite has been the case this season.

As of this post, Sevilla currently lie third in the league, only trailing Barcelona and Real Madrid. A third-place league finish would represent their best league position since the 2008-09 season.

One man who deserves much credit for Sevilla's success this season is undoubtedly head coach Julen Lopetegui. It was inevitable that Lopetegui's predecessor Joaquín Caparrós would be replaced; it was always a matter of finding the most suitable replacement. The selection of Lopetegui has proven to have been a masterstroke. Despite his pedestrian results while in charge of Real Madrid, Sevilla decided to roll the dice on the man from the Basque Country. This has been a risk which has clearly paid dividends. Under Lopetegui, the team has been able to achieve a level of cohesion which had been absent at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán for quite some time.

Sevilla made major changes to their roster during the previous off-season. Many expected them to struggle after losing their two best players from last season: Wissam Ben Yedder and Pablo Sarabia. Both left for Ligue 1 clubs: Ben Yedder joined Monaco, while Sarabia signed with Paris Saint-Germain. They also offloaded several other key contributors from last season such as Simon Kjær, Quincy Promes, and André Silva. Sevilla received a significant amount of money from these player departures. To their credit, they made intelligent use of the money received. Signings such as Ocampos, Luuk de Jong, Fernando, Diego Carlos, and Sergio Reguilón have played important roles throughout Sevilla's campaign. It is clear that Sevilla have outdone the vast majority of clubs across Europe with regard to the transfer acquisitions which have been made.

Following the departures of Ben Yedder and Sarabia, many wondered just who would step up and emerge as the best player on this overhauled Sevilla team. That question has now been answered through Ocampos. Ocampos' improvement upon his arrival in southern Spain from Monaco has come as a pleasant surprise for Sevilla fans. Prior to this season, the Argentine's career had been largely unmemorable. Over five prior seasons in Ligue 1 as well as one in Serie A, Ocampos had never made much of an impression on most. However, Ocampos is currently in the midst of a breakout season. From seemingly out of nowhere, the forward from Buenos Aires has already scored a career-best 11 league goals this season. Goalscoring aside, he has also fit in seamlessly with his new team and has impressed many observers in Spain and beyond. His play this season also earned him his first cap for Argentina; he went on to score his first goal for his country in that same match; an international friendly against Germany.

With 10 league matches remaining, Sevilla are in pole position to claim third place in the league and thus clinch a Champions League berth. While it is true that teams such as Valencia and Atlético Madrid have not lived up to expectations for various reasons, that doesn't discredit anything which Sevilla have done this season. This is an outcome which not many could have expected at the beginning of the season.

Sometimes, all a team needs are a few minor tweaks. Other times, a full-scale overhaul is what is required. Sevilla realized that they were in the latter group and acted accordingly. Today, they are deservedly reaping the rewards of their off-season decisions.

While nothing is quite certain just yet, Sevilla can already take many positives from this season. A top-four finish this season would be a fitting conclusion.

The Weekly Take, Issue 109: Well Above Expectations

The most recent set of Bundesliga fixtures saw SC Freiburg register an impressive victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Nils Petersen scored the only goal of the game to give Freiburg the victory. The win also means that Freiburg maintain their pursuit of the last Europa League spot; they are competing with Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin, and Schalke for it.

Heading into this season, no one could have expected that Freiburg would experience the level of success which they have thus far. The club from southwestern Germany have not featured in continental competition since the 2013-14 Europa League, in which they were eliminated after the group stage. Furthermore, they had finished 15th and 13th during the two preceding league campaigns.

As they are not among the leading clubs in the Bundesliga, Freiburg's season has gone under the radar. Regardless, Freiburg have indeed surpassed all pre-season expectations of them. But just how have they done it?

For one thing, it must be noted that many of their players have significantly improved from last season. Players such as Jonathan Schmid, Christian Günter, Robin Koch, Luca Waldschmidt, and Petersen have all been key contributors to Freiburg's season to date. The impressive play of the latter four players has even earned them consideration for call-ups to the German national team. Although none of them have earned more than three caps at this point, further appearances for Die Mannschaft are likely to come if they are able to maintain their form into next season and beyond. Koch has also been linked with transfers to clubs such as Valencia, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester United.

During the last off-season's transfer window, Freiburg also made signings which came at reasonable prices and also suited the needs of the team. Freiburg do not have the financial resources of their direct rivals, which made them prioritize maximizing value for money when signing players. This can be seen in the acquisition of Schmid from Augsburg for €4 million. Freiburg also pulled off a major win by bringing in Vincenzo Grifo from Hoffenheim. In doing so, they managed to land a key player from one of their fellow Europa League contenders for just €7 million. These shrewd signings helped set up some of Freiburg's overachievement this season.

The relative lack of expectations of Freiburg may also have helped them this season. Teams such as Schalke and Frankfurt have underwhelmed relative to what had been expected of them at the beginning of the season. Conversely, there had not been any such expectations placed on Freiburg. This therefore allowed them to be able to play with more freedom, less pressure, and less fear or inhibition. In such an environment, it was possible for the team to thrive and achieve results far beyond what had been predicted.

Nevertheless, Freiburg fans should not get carried away in spite of their success. As has been mentioned, they are not endowed with the resources which their rivals possess. Thus, with just four matchdays remaining, it is possible that this resource gap may make itself evident and see Freiburg's bid for a Europa League spot come off the rails.

Freiburg's lack of experience in this position could also be a factor which works against them. All of the other clubs competing for the last Europa League spot have recently been involved in either the Champions League or Europa League. If the pressure of the situation ends up getting to them, they might end up faltering in their effort to reach their first continental tournament in seven years.

However, regardless of the end result of their season, Freiburg and their fans can be very pleased with how this season has gone. If you had told anyone associated with the club that the club would be in the chase for a Europa League spot with just four more league matches to be played, they would have been delighted to have heard that.

They might not be the favourites to claim that spot; Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim are more likely to do so. Their personnel also lacks the overall quality of those of the clubs around them. However, if they continue showing the grit and heart which have brought them this far while also getting a bit of luck along the way, European football might very well be on its way to the Black Forest.