Bundesliga is a professional club-level football league and is the top tier of German football.
With the most affordable tickets and fan-friendly reputation of any of Europe’s 5 major football leagues, the Bundesliga has the highest average attendance of any football league in the world and an electric atmosphere. Germany’s top flight regularly outranks its European rivals for goals scored per game, so there’s no shortage of attacking action on display.
Bundesliga clubs have been successful in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. Due to the structure of club ownership, the league also has an incredible fan culture and some of the most iconic venues such as Allianz Arena and Signal Iduna Park.
Although 12 clubs have been crowned champions, Bayern Munich are the Bundesliga’s preeminent team, having won the majority of the league titles on offer since its formation.
📜 Bundesliga History
The league was founded in 1962 and it was the first national league in Germany; prior to its inception, there were a series of regional leagues – representing West Germany’s North, South, Southwest, West, and Berlin – which held playoffs to determine the national champion. East Germany held its own league during the years of the partition of the country.
Following the reunification of Germany, East German leagues merged with that of West Germany, and teams were seeded into the tiers of the system.
💯 Bundesliga Format & Scoring
There are 18 football teams in the Bundesliga and every season they play each other home and away for a total of 34 football matches apiece, with 3 points awarded for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a defeat. Teams are ranked on points, then goal difference, and then goals scored.
The top 4 clubs qualify for the UEFA Champions League, while the bottom 2 are automatically relegated to German football’s second tier, 2. Bundesliga, and are replaced by 2 promoted teams. The team that finishes 3rd-from-bottom plays the team that finished 3rd in the 2. Bundesliga in a 2-legged playoff, and the winner plays in the Bundesliga the following season.
The team that finishes 5th qualifies for the UEFA Europa League, as does the team that finishes 6th if the winners of the DFB-Pokal also finish in the 5 top teams. In those circumstances, the 7th-placed team is awarded qualification to the UEFA Europa Conference League, otherwise, that goes to 6th place.