When does the Bundesliga restart and the season so far
The World Cup may be winding down, but fans must wait a little longer for the return of the German Bundesliga. We tackle the restart and look at the state of play.
Germany's top-tier took a break for the World Cup and its national team's early exit in Qatar, coupled with the Bundesliga's traditional winter break, means fussball aficionados will have to wait longer than their English, Spanish, French and Italian counterparts for the action to get back underway.
The earlier part of the season saw a fierce battle for the summit, with power changing hands several times, though the title, European places and relegation battle are far from decided.
Each side will play 34 games in total over the course of the 2022/23 season, with 15 played and 19 remaining.
When does the Bundesliga restart?
The Bundesliga season begins again on Friday 20th January, with a full fixture programme prepared over the weekend.
German Cup football does not resume until the end of the month, meaning this will have been teams' first taste of competitive football in over two months.
Where can you watch the Bundesliga?
UK viewers can enjoy Bundesliga football on Sky Sports.
Owing to the long break before the restart, the TV fixtures are yet to be selected for the first round of matches.
What does the Bundesliga table look like?
A familiar sight for many years now, the dynastic Bayern Munich closed the first part of the campaign as leaders. But the winners in each of the last ten seasons have not had things their own way for the duration this time around, with Freiburg and Union Berlin doing their utmost to upset the established order.
The capital club topped the standings for the first time in their history after six games, but fell away towards the break, with just one point collected from a possible nine in their final three matches.
Freiburg, who ended the 2021/22 season in a respectable sixth, remain Bayern's nearest challengers with a four-point gap keeping Julian Nagelsmann's men top.
But though the Munich outfit have lost just once so far, they must adapt well to the unique post-World Cup scenario, given they sent a joint-high of 16 players to the World Cup - though the extended German break should help them more than the likes of English and Spanish clubs.
RB Leipzig sit third, just two points behind Freiburg, though they too must look over their shoulders as Eintracht Frankfurt and Union sit ready to strike, just one point further back.
Dortmund, who won back-to-back titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12 before Bayern's dominance began, are on track to record their worst finish since a slump to seventh in 2014/15 - they currently sit sixth and will be battling to secure Champions League football for an eighth consecutive campaign, but face competition from sleeping giants Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach, seventh and eighth respectively.
Werder Bremen were able to harness the momentum gained in their promotion-winning campaign last term, running to ninth place, while slugging it out below them in mid-table are the likes of Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen, who have sunk from a third-placed finish season to 12th over Christmas.
They are a whole seven points off Dortmund and only four better off than Stuttgart, who occupy the relegation playoff place in 16th with Hertha Berlin (15th) and Augsburg (14th) just on the right side of the line.
Bochum, 17th, are in the higher of the two direct relegation places, while the other promoted unit, Schalke, face an uphill task if they are to avoid dropping back into the second division. The Gelsenkirchen club are clear at the foot of the table by four points.
Who is the current Bundesliga top scorer?
Robert Lewandowski ruled the roost over the Bundesliga scoring charts for five straight seasons until this term, but the Poland striker's departure for Barcelona in the summer opened the door for new figures.
Leading the way so far in the goal charts is RB Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku, who has hit 12 goals in his 15 games for RB Leipzig, though two key men from sides currently outside the European positions are lingering just behind him.
Borussia Monchengladbach's Marcus Thuram and Niclas Fullkrug of Werder Bremen - largely an unknown quantity outside his homeland before his equaliser from the bench against Spain in Qatar - both have ten.
Young Bayern talent Jamal Musiala and a Freiburg figure, Vincenzo Grifo, complete the top five with nine goals apiece.