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FC Bayern Munich players and staff pose for the team photo shoot in Munich, Germany, 08 August 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BERLIN -- 2017 German Champions Bayern Munich are going into the 55th season of the Bundesliga in a strong position. 14 of 18 Bundesliga coaches count on the Bavarian side to win their sixth consecutive title; only Bayer Leverkusen coach Heiko Herrlich named Borussia Dortmund to be the winning side. Having invested more than 100 million euro, Bayern hardly has to fear any national rivals. Bayern will play the Bundesliga's curtain raiser this Friday evening against Bayern Leverkusen.

Not even Borussia Dortmund, who in recent years has been Bayern's strongest competitor, seems to be strong enough to challenge the team of Italian star coach Carlo Ancelotti. The 2012 German Champion is still in trouble due to his French striker Ousmane Dembele who is currently on strike and has, according to German media, left the country for France. Dembele intends to join Spanish giant FC Barcelona after Brazilian star Neymar Junior has left for Paris St. Germain for 222 million euro.

So far, negotiations between Dortmund and Barcelona failed as the Germans demanded over 130 million euro for Dembele, who has a valid contract with them until 2021. Dembele refused to join the team training and therefore was suspended by Dortmund's club leaders. Most pundits, however, expect him to leave sooner or later as it seems impossible to reintegrate him with Dortmund's squad.

Without Dembele, Dortmund lacks the needed quality to challenge Bayern, despite Ancelotti saying Dortmund is their closest rival in the new season. Dortmund would have to rely fully on the performance of star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or find an adequate replacement for Dembele. This Wednesday the club signed Hoffenheim defender and midfielder Jeremy Toljan for 5 million euro, who can hardly close the gap.

If Dembele succeeds and is leaving the club, Aubameyang won't be rejoicing as Dembele was the one delivering passes and created chances for the 2016/2017 Bundesliga top scorer.

As far as additional Bayern hunters are concerned, things don't look too optimistic as last season's third-placed RB Leipzig for the first time in their clubs history attend the Champions League. According to Bayern Munich coach Ancelotti, "we will have to wait and see how the club is getting along with the additional pressure and investment that has to be made playing in an intense competition such as the Champions League."

The same applies to last season's fourth-placed TSG Hoffenheim. The side of Julian Nagelsmann, Germany's 2017 coach of the year, is still struggling to make it to the Champions League as the team lost the first of two play-off games against the Premier league side of Liverpool FC by 2-1.

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