The Bavarian giants, held to a shock draw last term by the minnows, have a vastly larger budget, and their rival coach feels the discrepancy is unfair. RB Leipzig boss Jesse Marsch says that Bayern Munich's financial advantage over the majority of their Bundesliga rivals leaves few of them with a fair shot against them, highlighting minnows Arminia Bielefeld to illustrate his point.
The Bavarian giants were held to a shock draw by the North Rhine-Westphalia outfit last season, in spite of the vast gulf in resources between the pair. Now, speaking after his side were thrashed in their attempts to gain ground upon the reigning champions, Marsch has admitted that he does not understand how such financial disparity benefits the competition long-term.
Having cut his teeth in MLS before his move to the Bundesliga, Marsch has left a sporting hierarchy vastly different to the one occupied by football in Germany. American sports, such as the NFL, frequently attempt to balance the competition through initiatives such as the draft, which allows the last-place team the first pick of the best new players for the subsequent season.
The lack of promotion and relegation to that franchise model however, it could be argued, robs some of the romance of the European game, where upsets can often make seismic waves. Only last year, Bayern were stunned by second-division Holstein Kiel in the second round of the DFB-Pokal Cup, beaten on penalties after a draw. Marsch will now turn his attention to continental football however, as Leipzig prepare to face another one of European football's rich elite in the Champions League.
The Bundesliga outfit travel to Premier League title holders Manchester City on Wednesday, looking to spring a major surprise against last season's beaten finalists. Further tests against another high-spending club, Paris Saint-Germain, await, as well as Club Brugge, leaving Marsch's men in a fight to make it to the last before a ball is even kicked.
