BT Sport's Raphael Honigstein discusses how behind-closed-doors has affected the game in Germany as he previews the upcoming fixtures.
Playing without fans has seen the more powerful teams enjoy more domination as home advantage has been virtually eradicated, but the game itself remains a high-quality product once you get you head around the lack of crowd noise.
BT Sport’s Bundesliga pundit Raphael Honigstein has seen more Bundesliga action than most, and although he admits that it’s a strange concept to get your head around, once you do you can clearly seen the quality on show.
All eyes have been on the German league since they re-started ahead of the rest of Europe, and the lack of home advantage has been one of the main takeaways from games being played in empty grounds.
Bayern Munich are powering their way to yet another German title after beating a lively young Bayer Leverkusen side in Saturday’s game. The result proved yet again that home advantage means little these days, with Honigstein telling us that is has all-but gone in this new format.
“I think what we have found so far is that the better quality teams have found it easier to deal with the situation of playing without fans, and that extra quality and depth from the squads has come through, and maybe the smaller sides have needed that extra push they would usually get from the crowd,” Honigstein told Sporting Life.
“I think Bayern have had the advantage all along of being the best team in the league so it’s no surprise that they’ve been least affected.
“We’ll need more data but early indications are that there is a trend that the better teams aren’t hurt as much by this and that the lesser teams are missing that extra edge of having the fans, at the same time it makes the big sides even stronger. They can win anywhere.
“It does make the rest of the league a little bit more unpredictable though as home advantage has been blown out of the water, making the mid-table or even lower sides not scared of playing away from home anymore.
“They may miss out from home advantage themselves, but when they go somewhere there is no trepidation and those games have become more open and entertaining.”
Quality on the pitch
Some critics have suggested a lack of intensity in games without fans, but while there may be some truth in that, statistically players are running more with less stoppages caused by the crowd – as Honigstein explains.
“The intensity has only dropped off slightly in terms of pressing intensity, but it’s made up for in there being more extra football being played as there are fewer interruptions,” he added.
“Players are running a lot more and are finding it exhausting as there’s less stopping of the game with the players not getting into arguments with each other or the referee because of the crowd emotion not being there.
“So physically, although the intensity may be down slightly, many other metrics such as the distance they’re running are up.
“Mentally, it’s strange adjusting to there being no atmosphere - somebody makes a tackle or plays a great through ball and there’s no reaction, it takes a while for your brain to process that it’s just as meaningful as it would be in front of a full stadium.”
Battle for second
Bayern seems safely on the road to another Bundesliga title, but there is a big scrap for the remaining Champions League places. One of those is likely to go to Dortmund, who Honigstein says will be too strong for RB Leipzig down the stretch.
The two teams play each other late in the season in what could be a battle for second place, but it remains to be seen how much Timo Werner’s impending departure damages the side.
“Dortmund are still the second best team in the league, and I don’t see them dropping too many points, they lost to Bayern but have been comfortable against most other teams.
“Leipzig have a chance and they have great quality in their squad, and still have to play Dortmund of course.
“That will be a big game and Leipzig’s chance to make a push but I don’t expect Dortmund to lose too much ground and they look like the second best team in the league.”
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