News this week emerged that the Bundesliga is targeting a return in early May. The German top flight is set to be finished in June with an exciting title race that features four teams fighting it out for the trophy.
Two of the teams fighting for the Bundesliga crown are Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The two rivals have shown themselves to be the most consistent teams this term – sorry RB Leipzig. Part of that consistency the two clubs have shown has come in the playmaking department.
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the Bundesliga in terms of assists. Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller, who was recently rewarded with a new contract, has tallied 16 assists to lead the league.
Just below Muller is English sensation Jadon Sancho with 15 assists. Sancho is the most sought-after player in Europe heading into the transfer market and could make a big move away from the Signal Iduna Park in the offseason.
Along with being No. 2 in assists this term, Sancho has tallied the second-most sprints with 709. His pace has enabled him to get beyond defenders regularly to set up crosses and goals.
Muller doesn’t feature in the top 24 players in the Bundesliga in sprints. He is far down the list, but hard running is no longer the 30-year-old's expertise – although it never really was.
The Bayern Munich man has been Hansi Flick’s key to unlock defences. In spite of Philippe Coutinho’s arrival last summer, it has been Muller that has been far more important. But Muller’s lack of sprints and high assist total isn’t to say sprints and assists don’t correlate.
The Bundesliga’s top sprints man is Borussia Dortmund 21-year-old right-back Achraf Hakimi. The Moroccan has totalled 841 sprints.
On loan from Real Madrid, the Spanish club have a star on their hands but will most likely sell him in the offseason with a host of suitors looking to purchase the defender.
Hakimi has tallied 10 assists, which is the fourth-best mark in the Bundesliga. No. 3 in Bundesliga assists is RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku, who – like Muller – doesn't appear in the top 24 sprinters.
One of the most interesting names on the list of sprints and assists is Eintracht Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic. The pacey 27-year-old Serbian has lit up the league and Europa League over the last two seasons since arriving from Hamburg.
Kostic has tallied 638 sprints (ninth), eight assists, (seventh), and 140 crosses from open play (first). He has done it all while playing for the Bundesliga’s 12th-placed team.
Sprints and assists are related, but this season’s assist leader (for now) is showing that wily craftsmanship is outdoing youthful exuberance. Will it change down the final stretch of the Bundesliga season? If it does, Borussia Dortmund could overtake Bayern Munich for the title.