Sixth Decade
2013–2020: Bayern dominance, Guardiola and the dawn of COVID
Bayern's architects cement the Bundesliga from 2013 onward with a possession-based system under supercoach Pep Guardiola, draining the league of suspense. In the 2013/14 season, they clinch the title on matchday 27 — earlier than any Bundesliga champion before or since. The question is no longer who will be German champion, but when Bayern will wrap it up.
Guardiola arrives in Munich in 2013 as the most sought-after coach in world football. His three seasons transform Bayern's playing style — more possession, more positional play, more tactical sophistication. But the Champions League, the trophy Bayern craves above all, eludes him. Three consecutive semi-final exits — to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid — leave a bittersweet legacy.
Meanwhile, the Bundesliga gets its most controversial new member. RB Leipzig, backed by Red Bull's billions, rises from the fifth division to the Bundesliga in just seven years. Traditionalists are outraged. Protests erupt at every away ground. But Leipzig's sporting success is undeniable — finishing second in their debut Bundesliga season in 2016/17.
Robert Lewandowski becomes the league's defining player, scoring an astonishing five goals in nine minutes against Wolfsburg in September 2015 — a record that may never be broken. Between 2013 and 2020, Bayern win seven consecutive titles, a monotony that threatens the league's competitiveness but not its attendance figures.
Borussia Dortmund under Thomas Tuchel and later Lucien Favre remain the persistent challenger, coming agonizingly close in 2018/19. Eintracht Frankfurt surprises everyone by winning the DFB-Pokal in 2018 and reaching the Europa League semi-finals in 2019.
Then, in March 2020, everything stops. COVID-19 hits. The Bundesliga becomes the first major European league to resume play, with "Geisterspiele" — ghost games in empty stadiums. The world watches as German football leads the way back. Bayern win the treble in August 2020 — Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League — in a surreal, spectator-free finale in Lisbon. Robert Lewandowski scores in the Champions League final against PSG. An era ends. A new one begins.
