The German Bundesliga

The German Bundesliga is the 3rd biggest of the top four European Leagues (Behind the English Premier League and Spanish Liga; and ahead of the Italian Serie A) This ranking is based on the UEFA league coefficient, based on the overall performance of the league's clubs. The German Bundesliga is however the frontrunner in overall attendance in Europe, with an average of 45,000 per match, and second in the world for all sports attendance, behind the mammoth NFL. (67,000 avg per game) This league has a very rich history of top notch clubs, players, championships, and loyal fan-bases.

The league is setup like most professional European futbol leagues, as the top level league. However unlike the BPL and La Liga, there are only 18 clubs (instead of 20) that gain membership to the Premiere Bundesliga. The league operates like most European leagues, with a regular season beginning in August and ending in May. Each team plays each other twice, home and away, and the highest record is the champion of the league. The lowest two teams are relegated to the 2nd tier division, while the best performing teams of the 2nd division are promoted to the 1st tier Bundesliga.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
FC Augsburg	Augsburg	SGL arena	30,660
Bayer Leverkusen	Leverkusen	BayArena	30,210
Bayern Munich	Munich	Allianz Arena	71,000
Borussia Dortmund	Dortmund	Signal Iduna Park	80,645
Borussia Mönchengladbach	Mönchengladbach	Borussia-Park	54,010
Eintracht Braunschweig	Braunschweig	Eintracht-Stadion	25,540
Eintracht Frankfurt	Frankfurt	Commerzbank-Arena	51,500
SC Freiburg	Freiburg	Dreisamstadion	24,000
Hamburger SV	Hamburg	Volksparkstadion	57,000
Hannover 96	Hanover	AWD-Arena	49,000
Hertha BSC	Berlin	Olympiastadion	74,244
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	Sinsheim	Rhein-Neckar Arena	30,150
1. FSV Mainz 05	Mainz	Coface Arena	34,000
1. FC Nürnberg	Nuremberg	Frankenstadion	50,000
Schalke 04	Gelsenkirchen	Veltins-Arena	61,673
VfB Stuttgart	Stuttgart	Mercedes-Benz Arena	60,441
SV Werder Bremen	Bremen	Weserstadion	42,100
VfL Wolfsburg	Wolfsburg	Volkswagen Arena	30,000

Bavarian Futbol Derbies

• One of the biggest rivalries in the Bundesliga, as well as in Europe, is the "Klassiker" between the two powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Both teams have a very passionate fanbase, especially Dortmund, home to the Westfalonstadion, the biggest stadium in Germany. Their "Yellow Wall" fanbase has gained a reputation as the loudest most intense atmopshere in the world.
• Another huge rivalry worth mentioning  in the Bundesliga is the "Revierderby" between Borussia Dortmund and FC Shalke 04, two neighboring powerhouses. If I had to pick a German team to support it would most definitely be Borussia Dortmund.

History

The league was founded in 1963, in the city of Dortmund, where FC Koln went on to win the first championship. Since it's inception, Bayern Munich has gone on to dominate the league with a total of 23 championships. Other notable clubs and champions include Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger, FC Nuremberg, Werder Bremen, Borussia Monchengladbach, FC Schalke, and Vfb Stuttgart.

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Seasons
Bayern Munich	23	10	1931–32, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2012–13
1. FC Nuremberg	9	3	1919-20, 1920-21, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1926-27, 1935-36, 1947–48, 1960–61, 1967–68
Borussia Dortmund	8	5	1955–56, 1956–57, 1962–63, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2010–11, 2011–12
Schalke 04	7	9	1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1941–42, 1957–58
Hamburger SV	6	8	1922–23, 1927–28, 1959–60, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83
VfB Stuttgart	5	4	1949-50, 1951-52, 1983-84, 1991-92, 2006-07
Borussia Mönchengladbach	5	2	1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77
Werder Bremen	4	7	1964–65, 1987–88, 1992–93, 2003–04
1. FC Kaiserslautern	4	4	1950–51, 1952–53, 1990–91, 1997–98
1. FC Köln	3	7	1961–62, 1963–64, 1977–78
VfB Leipzig	3	2	1902-03, 1905-06, 1912-13
SpVgg Fürth	3	1	1913-14, 1925-26, 1928-29
Hertha BSC	2	5	1929-30, 1930-31
Viktoria 89 Berlin	2	2	1907-08, 1910-11
Dresdner SC	2	1	1942-43, 1943-44
Hannover 96	2	0	1937-38, 1953-54
Karlsruher FV	1	2	1909-10
Holstein Kiel	1	2	1911-12
1860 Munich	1	2	1965-66
Fortuna Düsseldorf	1	1	1932-33
Eintracht Frankfurt	1	1	1958-59
SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin	1	0	1904-05
Eintracht Braunschweig	1	0	1966-67
Rot-Weiss Essen	1	0	1954-55
Freiburger FC	1	0	1906-07
Phönix Karlsruhe	1	0	1908-09
VfR Mannheim	1	0	1948-49
Rapid Wien	1	0	1940-41
VfL Wolfsburg	1	0	2008–09

 Best Players to Watch

1. Frank Ribery     Bayern Munich (2007-present) France (2006-present) Age 30
2. Bastian Schweinsteiger Bayern Munich (2002-present) Germany (2004-present) Age 29
3. Robert Lewandowski     Borussia Dortmund (2010-2014) Poland (2008-present) Age 25
4. Philip Lahm      Bayern Munich (2002-present) Germany (2004-present) Age 30
5. Manuel Neuer   Bayern Munich (2011-present) Germany (2009-present) Age 27
6. Arjen Robben    Bayern Munich (2009-present) Netherlands (2003-present) Age 30
7. Henrickh Mkhitaryan Borussia Dortmund (2013-present) Armenia (2007-present) Age 27
8. Thomas Mueller  Bayern Munich (2008-present) Germany (2010-present) Age 24
9. Mario Mandzukic Bayern Munich (2010-present) Croatia (2007-present) Age 27
10. Mario Gotze Bayern Munich (2013-present) Germany (2010-present) Age 21   

Top Ten Goalscorers

Player		Period	Club	Goals
1	Gerd Müller	1965–1979	FC Bayern Munich	365 (Ø 0,85)
2	Klaus Fischer	1968–1988	TSV 1860 München, FC Schalke 04, 1. FC Köln, VfL Bochum	268 (Ø 0.50)
3	Jupp Heynckes	1965–1978	Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hannover 96	220 (Ø 0.60)
4	Manfred Burgsmüller	1969–1990	Rot-Weiss Essen, Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Nürnberg, SV Werder Bremen	213 (Ø 0.48)
5	Ulf Kirsten	1990–2003	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	182 (Ø 0.52)
6	Stefan Kuntz	1983–1999	VfL Bochum, Bayer Uerdingen, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Arminia Bielefeld	179 (Ø 0.40)
7	Dieter Müller	1973–1986	1. FC Köln, VfB Stuttgart, 1.FC Saarbrücken	177 (Ø 0.58)
8	Klaus Allofs	1975–1993	Fortuna Düsseldorf, 1. FC Köln, SV Werder Bremen	177 (Ø 0.42)
9	Claudio Pizarro	1999–	SV Werder Bremen, FC Bayern Munich	167 (Ø 0.47)
10	Hannes Löhr	1964–1977	1. FC Köln	166 (Ø 0.44)